


Find a way home

by Gilrael



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Falling In Love, Family Issues, Fluff and Angst, Found Family, Friendship, Happy Ending, Homophobia, Injury, M/M, Multi, One-sided Kageyama/Kindaichi is mentioned, Reconciliation, Slice of Life, Slow Burn, This fic is supposed to be uplifting overall even if it starts angsty, but there'll also be parts from Ukai's and Takeda's POV, minor EnnoTana, minor KiyoYui, most of this is from Kageyama's POV
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-11
Updated: 2018-06-16
Packaged: 2019-04-21 12:51:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 30,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14285307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gilrael/pseuds/Gilrael
Summary: From: Dad> Please, at least write us where you are once you've found a place to stay. You're not even twenty yet, so we'll need to cosign your lease anyway. Stay safe.~~~After a falling-out with his parents, Kageyama goes to Sendai, wanting to make a fresh start. After a rough first week living in a manga café, he finds a room in a shared house owned by Takeda and starts working in Ukai's corner store to pay for rent. Staying in a house with a bunch of strangers, Kageyama learns a lot about himself, his sexuality and what the word "family" really means.





	1. Searching

**Author's Note:**

> My insane fic writing streak is still going on because I'm still studying for exams and writing is literally the only thing that keeps me from punching walls in frustration.  
> I only have a very loose outline for this fic, so I am not going to make any estimations about how long it's going to end up being. The Slow Burn tag applies to the KageHina relationship, whereas all the others are already established. All in all, I want this fic to be uplifting, so don't be fooled by the angsty start.  
> With all of that out of the way, I hope you guys enjoy this fic!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [This chapter is available as a podfic!](https://soundcloud.com/user-721921950/find-a-way-home-chapter-1)

As expected, Tobio's parents hadn't bothered taking off from work for the occasion, leaving him to come home from his graduation to an empty house. They hadn't even batted an eye when he'd asked them for his savings book and medical insurance card last night. He kicked off his shoes in the entryway, going straight to his room. Tobio had already packed his bags on the day before the graduation ceremony. Now that he held his high school diploma in hand, he didn't really have any reason to stay here anymore. It wasn't like his parents really cared all that much about what would happen to him, not after all the grief he'd caused them in the last couple of months.

And yet, he took his time changing out of his school uniform, looking around his now bare room. It wasn't like he'd ever had much stuff lying around, but it still felt strangely empty with only his athletic awards hanging from the shelf over his bed. He'd taken down all the volleyball posters, shoved the few books he owned into a duffle bag with his clothes and a spare pair of shoes, and carefully packed his laptop and charger cables in a sturdy messenger bag.

Once Tobio was wearing his regular street clothes, he carefully folded up his uniform, leaving it in a neat pile on a bed he wouldn't be sleeping in again. His bed would probably be the only thing he was going to miss about this house. Maybe the nice bathtub, too, but mostly his bed. Sighing, he put on his warm jacket and threw his two bags over his shoulders. He had a train to catch.

 

~~~

 

By the time Tobio arrived in Sendai, his parents had tried to call him four times. He hadn't even bothered declining the calls, just letting them go to voicemail. Not that he ever planned to listen to the messages they left. He did, however, read the text from his father that arrived just as Tobio stepped through the ticket gate.

 

From: Dad

> Please, at least write us where you are once you've found a place to stay. You're not even twenty yet, so we'll need to cosign your lease anyway. Stay safe.

 

That was something Tobio hadn't even thought about when he'd made his plan. If you could even call this a plan. He'd just gone to the closest city near his hometown with the intent to crash at a manga café until he found a job and a proper flat or room to live in. Shaking his head, Tobio walked out on the street. It took him a while to orient himself, but with the GPS on his phone, he was soon on his way to the cheapest manga café he'd managed to find on the internet.

The straps of his bags were cutting into his shoulders as he walked until he eventually had to stop and rearrange them to give his battered right shoulder a break. Everything was healed just fine, according to the doctors, but Tobio still sometimes felt a twinge of pain whenever he fell asleep in a weird position or the weather was particularly bad.

After almost half an hour of walking, Tobio finally arrived at the manga café. The young woman at the front desk sounded like she'd learnt every sentence she uttered by heart, but the smile on her face seemed genuine as she explained how to access the WiFi and where he could get his complimentary drink.

“The lavatories and showers can be found if you go down the hallway and take the last door to the right,” she said, handing him his ID back along with the drink voucher.

“Is there anywhere I can put my bags away safely?” Tobio asked, a little worried about his savings book and laptop. There was no way he was going to carry all of his stuff around while he was hunting for a job and flat.

“There are lockers near the booths,” the receptionist explained. “Just put in ¥100 and you can lock the mechanism and take the key with you. You'll get your coin back once you unlock the door again. If you lose the key and we have to open the locker for you, you will have to pay a fine of ¥1,000.”

“Okay, thanks.”

“If you have any more questions, feel free to phone us at the front desk. I wish you a pleasant stay.”

Tobio nodded politely and then picked up his bags so he could get settled in at his booth. It was barely big enough for the desk and chair inside of it, but Tobio wasn't going to complain. Anything was better than having to live under the same roof as his parents. If someone had told him three years ago that his relationship with them would turn this sour, he would've dismissed the person as crazy.

But here he was, spending his first night after graduating high school at a manga café in a city he barely even knew.

 

~~~

 

Finding a job without having an address turned out to be almost impossible, and finding a flat without having an income wasn't particularly easy either. But Tobio wasn't going to give up. He started every day by searching through the job and real estate listings in the newspaper provided by the manga café, marking the promising ones with his pencil, before turning to the internet and spending his morning sending out e-mails. He'd then have lunch at a cheap restaurant down the street that served barely edible food and go out to look for shops that had signs saying that they had free part-time positions. And every evening Tobio returned to the manga café, having achieved approximately nothing since nobody wanted to hire a basically homeless boy with no experience.

Whenever he arrived, he was greeted by the same receptionist who had checked him in on his first night. Her name was Michimiya Yui, as Tobio had learnt on his second day, and she always wore the same cheery smile on her face. The cynical part of Tobio was sure that she would never smile at a guy like him if it wasn't for her job – he wasn't the friendliest looking person after all. But he was also a lonely eighteen-year-old boy who'd come to an unfamiliar city where he knew nobody, and thus Michimiya-san's smile was a saving grace. Even if it surely wasn't sincere, he could at least pretend that it was, and he looked forward to it every day. Accordingly, he was shocked when Michimiya-san wasn't sitting behind the counter on his sixth night in Sendai.

Tobio just stood in the entrance, his stomach churning uncomfortably, tears springing to his eyes.

_Fuck._ He rubbed at his eyes, trying to tell himself that he was overreacting and getting a move on before anyone could complain about him blocking the entrance. 

It was probably her day off. Everyone had days off. It wasn't like Michimiya-san even knew that she was his only source of stability right now. God, he had barely even talked to her!

_I'm pathetic_ , Tobio thought, just as he was about to run into someone in a staff uniform. He immediately held out his arm to catch the woman who was considerably shorter than him.

“Oof, I'm sorry,” Michimiya-san said, smiling sheepishly up at Tobio. “Are you alright?”

And that was the final straw. Tobio couldn't hold back the tears anymore. He started crying in front of someone who might as well be a complete stranger.

Michimiya-san's eyes went wide. “Oh my god, did I hurt you?”

The concern in her voice only made it worse. Tobio felt so goddamn small and alone as if he were a little kid and not a recent high school graduate.

“N-no, it's– You didn't...” He could barely string together a coherent sentence anymore. “It's n-not your f-fault.”

“Wait here for a second,” she said, gently patting his arm, and Tobio did as she told, not really knowing what else to do. When was the last time he'd cried? He hadn't even cried when things went so horribly wrong between him and... No. Tobio didn't want to think about _him_. Not now when he already felt horrible.

“Okay, follow me, Kageyama-kun,” Michimiya-san said, suddenly appearing next to Tobio again and making him flinch in surprise. She grabbed him by the elbow and led him to a door that was labelled “Staff only” before he had a chance to protest. 

They entered what appeared to be a pretty barren break room. There was a set of rickety folding chairs arranged around a small table and a small kitchenette with a microwave, kettle and coffee machine.

“Tea or coffee?” Michimiya-san asked after she had shoved Tobio down on one of the chairs.

“T-tea?” Tobio wasn't entirely sure what was happening right now.

“Okay, wait a second while I make some.”

Tobio nodded, but Michimiya-san had already turned her back to him, busying herself with the kettle. Tobio took the opportunity to take a couple of deep breaths, trying to calm down enough to at least stop sobbing.

Once the water was set to boil, Michimiya-san sat down across from Tobio, offering him a reassuring smile.

“I asked the manager if I could take my break earlier, so now we can talk,” she said. “If you want to talk, of course. You can also just drink a cup of tea and go back to your booth. I'm not gonna force you to do anything.”

Tobio had never been one to talk much, but Michimiya-san was being way too nice to him. He really didn't want to be rude to her by refusing her offer.

“I... I wouldn't know where to start,” he said, wiping at his eyes with the sleeves of his hoodie.

“Okay, how about we start with why you are staying here,” Michimiya-san suggested. “I'm honestly really curious why an eighteen-year-old kid like you is camping out at a manga café.”

As much as Tobio didn't want to be rude, he also didn't want to reveal all his petty problems to a stranger.

“I... erm... I moved out of my parents' house,” he said, hoping that it would satisfy Michimiya-san's curiosity at least a little.

“Hmm... Alright. So you're looking for a flat?”

“Also a place to work,” Tobio added, and for some reason that opened the floodgates again. He knew that it was ridiculous to expect to find a job within a week of looking; he'd just been trying so hard without seeing any results. He couldn't live like this forever. Sleeping in a chair wasn't good for his shoulder and he'd eventually run out of funds. He had enough saved up for another month since he'd never really spent his rather generous allowance on anything other than volleyball equipment, but if he didn't find a job until then, he'd have to return to his parents. Just thinking about this scenario was humiliating.

“Here.”

Tobio moved his hands, blinking at the cup of tea Michimiya-san had put down on the table in front of him. He hadn't even noticed her get up to prepare it.

“Th-thanks,” he said, once again wiping at his face before picking up the cup with shaking hands.

“Okay, so this is going to sound weird,” Michimiya-san said as she sat back down, holding her own cup. “But I think I can help you.”

Tobio almost burnt his tongue on the hot tea.

“Y-you can... help...?” he mumbled, knuckles going white with how tightly he gripped the cup.

“You see, I live in this house with a bunch of other people, and two weeks ago someone moved out. We haven't rented out the empty room yet.”

This sounded too good to be true, and Tobio was about to say so when Michimiya went on.

“I'd have to introduce you to the other tenants first, obviously, so there's no guarantee that you'll actually get the room, and I'm not sure if Takeda-san is willing to rent out the room to someone who is unemployed and doesn't have his parents' financial backing.”

“Why... why would you... You don't even know me,” Tobio said, his voice raspy but at least he wasn't crying anymore.

Michimiya-san shrugged and leaned over the table to ruffle Tobio's hair. Tobio just let it happen, too shocked that anyone would even do that to him.

“You don't seem particularly dangerous to me. You have one hell of a resting bitch face, but I'd also be having trouble smiling if I were in your situation.” Sighing, Michimiya-san settled back in her chair and took a sip of tea. “I finish my shift at ten, so you can come home with me after that, so I can introduce you to my housemates. Usually, they'll still be awake at that time.”

“What... if they don't like me?” That, at least to Tobio, seemed to be the most likely scenario. Most people didn't like him.

“Well, you can definitely sleep on our couch for tonight and check back in at the café tomorrow.”

“Thank you,” Tobio mumbled, finally starting on his tea now that he was calm enough to actually think about drinking it.

 


	2. Arrival

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just as a heads-up, this is the chapter where the homophobia tag comes in. Everyone will be fine, though, I promise!
> 
> EDIT: [This chapter is now available as a podfic!](https://soundcloud.com/user-721921950/find-a-way-home-chapter-2)

Keishin flipped the light switch on and off a couple of times, humming with satisfaction.

“Well, the lights should be working properly for now,” he said, turning to Ittetsu. “But the wiring in here is ancient. You should probably look into having some of it replaced.”

Ittetsu sighed, taking off his glasses to clean them with the hem of his t-shirt. “I know, but fixing the roof was a priority.” Putting his glasses back on again, he smiled up at his boyfriend. “Anyway, I need to thank you for helping out on such short notice. I don't know what I would be doing without you.”

“Get yourself injured trying to fix all these things yourself,” Keishin said, leaning down to kiss Ittetsu's forehead. Ittetsu wrinkled his nose but didn't protest. He _was_ rather clumsy. Instead, he took Keishin's hand pulling him away from the empty room.

“Do you want me to stay for when you interrogate the guy Michimiya's bringing round?” Keishin asked on their way to the living room.

“Don't you have to go back to the shop?”

After receiving Michimiya's text about wanting to introduce a potential new tenant after her shift, Ittetsu had immediately called Keishin at work so the broken light fixture would be replaced beforehand.

“Nah, Tanaka can handle closing just fine without me,” Keishin said, flopping down on one of the couches. “And it would be best if everyone were here to introduce themselves, right?”

Ittetsu nodded as he joined his boyfriend on the couch. Keishin immediately put an arm around him, drawing circles on Ittetsu's arm with his thumb. Ittetsu leaned into the touch, appreciating the comfort of the simple gesture.

After the disaster with Yoshida, they really needed to make sure that the new tenant wouldn't cause the same problems.

 

~~~

 

Ittetsu had inherited his uncle's old house around the time he started teaching at a nearby high school. He'd had two choices: selling the house and finding a small flat near the school, or moving in himself and renting out the numerous other bedrooms. And in his youthful naivety, Ittetsu had thought that the latter option would be less work. Now, four years later, he was a lot wiser, and yet, given the opportunity to go back to that time, he would do the exact same thing again. He was happy with his current set of housemates, and he'd do everything to protect them from harm. Even Hinata, the most recent addition to the group, had already wormed his way into Ittetsu's heart.

The only thing out of place had been Yoshida's presence. Ittetsu himself hadn't interacted with the man all that much, their work hours had been completely opposite after all, but after half a year of having Yoshida live with them, Itettetsu had noticed how everyone else in the house was on edge. Shimizu would instantly turn around and leave a room if Yoshida was inside of it. The friendly smile would slide right off Michimiya's face if someone even mentioned his name and the same went for Hinata, although he'd moved in only a month ago. In the end, it had been Ennoshita who spoke up, telling Ittetsu about all the homophobic “jokes” and how Yoshida had been harassing the girls. Ittetsu had acted immediately.

Yoshida had not reacted well to being told to pack up and leave. If Keishin hadn't stepped in and overpowered him, Ittetsu might not have come out of the ordeal unscathed.

And it was with these memories fresh in his mind that Ittetsu awaited Michimiya's arrival at home. He barely even registered what was happening on the TV screen in front of him, completely focused on thinking about how to make sure the new tenant wasn't another Yoshida type. Maybe he should trust Michimiya's intuition, surely she wouldn't invite someone to live with her who was violent or would make her girlfriend uncomfortable, but she was only twenty. He had ten more years of dealing with homophobes behind him.

Hearing a key turn in the lock, Ittetsu jumped a little.

“It'll be fine,” Keishin assured him as Michimiya announced that she was back. Ittetsu got up from the couch, going into the hallway to greet her.

“Welcome back,” he said, not really looking at Michimiya, eyes locked on the tall boy who was standing behind her instead. Despite his size and the decidedly grumpy look on his face, he looked incredibly young, almost high school age. Maybe it was the puffy red eyes or the way his fingers clenched around the strap of his duffle bag, but Ittetsu couldn't shake the feeling that he was dealing with a teenage runaway here.

“Ah, Takeda-san!” Michimiya said as she put her shoes on the rack beside the door. “This is Kageyama Tobio. Kageyama-kun, this is Takeda Ittetsu. He owns the place.”

“Nice to meet you,” Kageyama-kun said, bowing before putting on the slippers Michimiya offered him.

“Nice to meet you, too,” Ittetsu said, smiling instinctively. At least the boy had manners.

“I'm gonna say hi to Kiyoko real quick. Be right back!” Michimiya promised, rushing up the stairs. Kageyama-kun swallowed visibly at being left alone in the hallway with Ittetsu.

“Let's go to the living room, shall we?” Ittetsu said.

 

***

 

Takeda-san did not have a particularly intimidating build or facial expression. He was considerably shorter than Tobio, had a round face with warm brown eyes that were magnified by thick-framed glasses. And yet, Tobio was nervous. He couldn't believe that he'd been so dumb to think that finding a place to live would be easy. The last week of frantic searching had taught him that the opposite was true.

Following Takeda-san into the living room, the first thing Tobio noticed was the guy sitting on one of two couches. Unlike Takeda-san, he had an athletic build and sharp features that were accentuated by the bleached hair that he kept out of his face with two hairbands.

“Kageyama-kun, this is Ukai Keishin,” Takeda-san introduced him. “He also lives here.”

“Yo.” Ukai-san lifted a hand in greeting as he sized Tobio up.

“H-hello, I'm Kageyama Tobio.” Tobio bowed out of sheer habit. Greetings and introductions were the easy part. Keeping up an actual conversation was another story entirely.

“Why don't you sit down?” Takeda-san said, pointing Tobio towards the free couch while sitting down next to Ukai-san.

Tobio untangled himself from the strap of his duffle bag, letting it fall to the floor next to the couch. He kind of wished that Michimiya-san hadn't run off and left him alone with two unfamiliar men.

“Can I ask how you know Michimiya?”

It was a question Tobio should have expected, but he still didn't know how to answer without having another breakdown.

“I'm staying at the manga café,” he finally said slowly, before he accidentally said too much, “and she checked me in.”

“Ah, that makes sense,” Ukai-san said. “Did you run away from home or something? You can't be older than seventeen.”

“Eighteen,” Tobio corrected him, frowning at the notion of calling what he was doing “running away”. “I graduated last week.”

“You're the same age as Hinata-kun, then,” Takeda-san said, smiling. “But why were you staying at a manga café? Did you come to Sendai because of a job offer?”

“N-no, I don't have a job lined up,” Tobio said, swallowing hard. _Fuck_. He didn't want to start crying again. It was bad enough that Michimiya-san had seen him like that.

“University then?”

If only he hadn't had to give up on his athletic scholarship because of his stupid shoulder. He wasn't smart or studious enough to pass entrance exams after spending all his time and effort on volleyball until it was too late to change gears.

Tobio's hands were shaking. He clenched them into fists as he tried to hold back the tears.

“No,” he admitted, voice raspy. This wasn't like him. He was strong and focused and he could get through a whole conversation without crying, _damn it_. “I- I was hoping to find... to find a job here.”

Ukai-san raised a single brow, clearly sceptical. “Wouldn't that have been easier if you stayed with your parents?”

To have his parents berate him for not going to university because he'd put his money on the wrong horse? To have to listen to his father assuring him that his crush on Kindaichi had only been a fluke, a moment of confusion? So what if Tobio had spent all his time playing volleyball? He'd been good at it! Passing off five years of pining as “a moment of confusion” was ridiculous as well. And now even strangers were questioning him because clearly, he was just a dumb little kid who knew nothing about how the real world worked. And it was that exact thought that did Tobio in this time around.

Takeda-san was by his side in an instant, having grabbed a box of tissues from the coffee table.

“Shh, it's alright,” he said, gently resting a hand on Tobio's back. “Everything's gonna be okay.”

“Please,” Tobio sobbed, grabbing a tissue and pressing it against his eyes, “I'll do anything. Just d-don't... I don't wanna go back.”

“Keishin?” Takeda-san said, taking control of the situation. “Can you go and make Kageyama-kun a cup of hot chocolate? And please make sure that the others don't come in here. He can meet them later.”

Between his loud sobs, Tobio could hear footsteps and a door closing, indicating that he was now alone with Takeda-san.

“I'm a high school teacher, so I'm kind of used to mediating between kids and their parents now and then,” Takeda-san explained. “You don't have to answer any of the questions I'm going to ask, but I want to help you and to do that, I need to know why the thought of going back to your parents makes you cry.”

Now Tobio knew where Michimiya had her “a boy just suddenly started crying in front of me and I need to do something about it” strategy from. Takeda-san – Sensei? – even used the same exact tone of voice as Michimiya.

“Did your parents harm you?”

At that, Tobio had to shake his head. They might not have been on the best of terms recently, but his parents would never do anything to physically hurt him.

Takeda-san heaved a sigh of relief. “Okay, that's something at least. Did you have an argument?”

Had there ever been an actual argument? After hearing about what happened at the Spring High prelims, Tobio's parents had sat him down in the kitchen and talked _at_ him for an hour, but they'd never even let him get a word in edgewise. Not that he would've been able to explain himself. Words were not his friends. So Tobio shrugged and grabbed a fresh tissue to blow his nose with.

“I guess?” Fuck, his voice sounded pathetic.

“Do you want to talk about why you fought with them?”

Tobio hesitated, sneaking a sideways glance at Takeda-san. His facial expression was calm, maybe a little concerned, Tobio wasn't too sure. He was just as bad with people as he was with words. But there was something about this situation – about this entire evening – that just made Tobio want to spill everything. He'd been bottling it all up for months since he hadn't had anyone willing to listen, but today two strangers had offered him an open ear. Maybe it would be fine. Maybe Takeda-san wouldn't judge him like his parents had. And even if he did, Tobio could just go back to the manga café. He had no ties to this man after all.

And so he squared his shoulders, blowing his nose one last time and taking in a shaky breath.

“I'm gay,” he said, his voice cracking on the last syllable. It was the first time he'd admitted it out loud himself, although everyone else had already been calling him gay behind his back. “And everyone found out and then I messed up at the tournament. M-my shoulder... I... I can't even play volleyball anymore...”

Takeda-san slumped against the back of the couch with a groan. “So that's how it is,” he muttered, pushing up his glasses and rubbing his palms over his face. “Well, at least we won't have to worry about you harassing Shimizu and Michimiya, _and_ you won't be making homophobic jokes either, which are definitely points in your favour.”

Tobio had absolutely no idea what Takeda-san was talking about, but the guy didn't leave him any time to piece together a proper question anyway.

“Welcome to my house, where pretty much all of the tenants are gay or bi,” Takeda-san said with a tired smile. “Seems like you've come to the right place.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With all of that out of the way, we can finally get to the fun parts :3


	3. Welcome

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This entire chapter is the product of me having to reward myself with something after every half hour of studying. Otherwise, nothing gets done because I start thinking about volleyball idiots instead of physics.

Keishin hesitated as he stood in front of the living room. From the other end of the hallway, he could see Hinata poking his head through a door as if he was curious to catch a glimpse of their guest. Keishin raised an eyebrow at him, causing the boy to flinch and quickly shut the door. He'd told everyone to stay in their rooms until Ittetsu had calmed Kageyama-kun down before going to the kitchen to prepare hot chocolate. Keishin was perfectly happy to trust his boyfriend on how to handle situations like this. He himself wasn't all that great dealing with kids and teens, so he wasn't keen on going back to the crying boy sitting in their living room, but he did so anyway if only to deliver the hot chocolate.

Pushing open the door, he saw that Kageyama-kun's tears had dried up, though he was still sniffling as Ittetsu explained the house rules to him.

“We'll usually eat dinner together on Fridays, so please inform us beforehand if you won't be able to make it,” Ittetsu finished.

Kageyama-kun nodded, only looking up when Keishin cleared his throat.

“Here's the hot chocolate,” he said, pushing the mug into the boy's hands.

“Thank you,” Kageyama-kun mumbled, staring down at the steaming liquid with a frown. Keishin would've been a little insulted, but the kid was clearly out of it, so he let it slide.

“Do you need me here, or should I...” he trailed off, vaguely pointing at the door.

“I need to have a quick word with you,” Ittetsu said, getting up from the couch. “Please wait a moment, Kageyama-kun.”

Kageyama-kun nodded, taking a sip from the steaming mug. Keishin shot him one last glance over his shoulder before following Ittetsu into the hallway, but Kageyama-kun remained rooted to the couch, eyes staring off into the distance.

“What's up with him?” Keishin asked after closing the door.

“His parents found out he's gay.”

Well, that explained a lot. “Did they throw him out?”

“I don't think so?” Ittetsu shrugged. “It's a little hard to get much information out of him, but it seems to me that he left out of his own volition after they had a fight. I don't think they were very accepting of him.”

Keishin knew the feeling all too well. His own parents hadn't been too happy with him choosing a guy over all the women they'd tried to set him up with. He'd already taken over his grandparents' old shop when it happened, however, so he'd never had to deal with living under the same roof as his parents after coming out to them.

“You'll let him stay then? He doesn't have a job, though,” Keishin said, knowing very well that Ittetsu couldn't afford to let someone live here for free, not with all the repairs he still had to do around the house.

“That's why I needed to talk to you.”

Keishin did not trust the innocent smile on his boyfriend's face. He knew exactly where this conversation was going, and he wasn't sure he liked it.

“You want me to employ him at the shop, don't you?”

Keishin groaned when Ittetsu replied with a nod.

“You did say that you would like to hire another shop assistant,” Ittetsu reminded him, taking off his perfectly clean glasses to wipe them on his shirt. It was true that Keishin could use some more help around the shop but he'd hoped for someone with work experience, someone he didn't have to train first.

“He's probably never worked retail before,” Keishin argued on principle, knowing that he'd already lost the fight when Ittetsu took off his glasses so his puppy dog eyes would unfold their full effect.

“I'm sure Tanaka-kun would like having a kouhai who looks up to him,” Ittetsu said, stepping closer into Keishin's personal space and wrapping his arms around his shoulder.

Yeah, Keishin had lost this argument before it even started.

“Fine. But you owe me,” Keishin relented, putting his hands on Ittetsu's hips.

“I'll make it up to you.” And then Ittetsu was standing on his tiptoes and Keishin couldn't resist planting a kiss on those lips. Takeda Ittetsu was a stubborn bastard who always got his way somehow, and Keishin loved him for it.

 

***

 

So Tobio had ended up finding a house that was miraculously full of people like himself. Well, not exactly like him, but according to Takeda-san, he and his housemates were all in gay relationships with the exception of Hinata. Whoever Hinata was. Tobio still hadn't met any of the three other people that lived with Takeda-san, Ukai-san and Michimiya-san. It was a little like that saying that came up in his last literature quiz in high school. Birds of a feather... something.

Tobio looked around the deserted living room while he waited for Takeda-san and Ukai-san to return. It was cosy if a little cramped with the two couches and impressive home library that took up two entire walls of the room. Having finished his hot chocolate, Tobio got up to inspect the books. Not that he fancied reading but he'd heard his mum say that you could learn a lot about a person by the books they read. There were a lot of titles Tobio vaguely recognised from literature class but also translations of foreign books and entire volumes of classical Japanese poetry. But there was one title especially that stood out to Tobio – _The Volleyball Drill Book._

The spine of the book looked well-worn like someone had consulted it thoroughly and often. Tobio was tempted to have a closer look at it to see if maybe the owner had left notes in it. Would that be rude? Probably. Who did it belong to anyway? Takeda-san hadn't looked the type to play volleyball. Maybe Ukai-san? That seemed more likely but it could also be one of the other tenants.

Tobio's musings were cut short when Takeda-san returned.

“Michimiya and Ennoshita are preparing a little midnight snack in the kitchen,” he said, smiling warmly. “You'll have plenty of time to read once you've met your new housemates.”

Tobio could feel the heat of a blush rising to his cheeks. He kinda wanted to correct Takeda-san, wanted to tell him that he wasn't really into reading, but the words got stuck in his throat. Instead, he just nodded and followed Takeda-san into the kitchen.

He was met with curious stares from all over the room, but he didn't pay them much attention. More importantly, there was food on the table. Proper food. Not the horribly overcooked stuff they'd served at the restaurant near the manga café. When he'd left his parents house he'd thought the only things he would miss would be his bed and the bathtub, and while he did miss those things, he'd regretted not being able to eat a good meal even more. His mother's work schedule might have been all over the place, but there had always been leftovers in the fridge for Tobio to warm up after school.

“Okay, I guess it's time for a round of introductions,” Takeda-san said. “Everyone, this is Kageyama Tobio. He's had a disagreement with his parents and came to Sendai to make a fresh start.”

That was a good way to put it. Tobio would have to remember that.

“Now on to everyone else. I'll just start with myself, just for the sake of completeness. I'm Takeda Ittetsu, owner of this fine house and literature teacher at the high school down the road.” He then gestured towards Ukai-san. “This handsome fellow is my boyfriend, Ukai Keishin. He owns the corner store next to the school and he has agreed to let you work there.”

_What?_ Tobio's eyes went wide with shock but before he could come up with a single word of thanks Takeda-san already continued introducing people.

“You've met Michimiya at the manga café, so you already know that she works there, but she's also an economics major at the end of her second year at Tohokudai. Next to her is her girlfriend, Shimizu Kiyoko.” Shimizu-san smiled shyly, giving a little wave. Tobio acknowledged the greeting with a nod. “She's studying to become a primary school teacher at the Miyagi University of Education.

“Over there, we have Ennoshita Chikara.” Takeda-san pointed at a guy who appeared to be around Tobio's age and was currently pouring tea for everyone. “He's a first-year, almost second-year, in the literature department of Tohokudai. And last but not least, there's Hinata Shouyou. He only moved in last month, just before he graduated high school, and he's starting vocational school for car mechanics in three weeks.”

Hinata was basically vibrating in his seat, grinning around a tamagoyaki he'd shoved in his mouth. Tobio couldn't help the frown. This guy was already eating while Tobio hadn't even sat down at the table yet. He was hungry, too, damn it. But everyone was staring at him, probably expecting him to say something, so Tobio went with the standard of bowing and saying that it was nice to meet everyone before he turned to address Ukai-san specifically.

“Thank you for letting me work at your shop.”

Ukai-san just shrugged. “I need the help anyway. How about you sit down, and we can all get to know you over a cup of tea.”

He didn't have to say it twice. Tobio immediately sat down on one of the empty chairs, muttering his thanks as Ennoshita-san put down a cup of tea in front of him. Tobio would've preferred a glass of milk, but he wasn't going to complain. Especially, since there was food.

“Michimiya-san said you spent six days at the manga café. That must've been rough, huh?” Ennoshita-san asked, watching Tobio put a little bit of everything on his plate.

“It was a little cramped,” Tobio said, making Ukai-san snicker.

“If I can barely stretch out my legs in there, it must've been even worse for you.”

Tobio shrugged. His legs were fine, it was his shoulder that was bothering him. But he didn't really want to get into that topic right now so he didn't say anything.

“What do you do for fun? Do you like volleyball?” Hinata asked between two bites of food.

“Not this again,” Ennoshita-san groaned, while everyone else started laughing.

“Hinata is a bit of a volleyball enthusiast,” Michimiya-san explained when she saw the confused look on Tobio's face. “He barely talks about anything else.”

“Oh. I... I used to play,” Tobio said, hoping that the conversation would move on to a different topic. Well, at least now he knew that the volleyball book either belonged to Hinata or Ukai-san.

“Yes!” Hinata threw his fists up in the air in triumph. “What position did you play?”

“Setter.”

“Double yes!” The grin on Hinata's face grew even wider. “Would you mind practising with me now and then? Ukai-san refuses to set for me outside of practice with the neighbourhood team because he's 'busy'.”

Ukai-san rolled his eyes at Hinata's use of air quotes.

“I can't,” Tobio said evasively.

“Aw, why?” Hinata whined. “All you gotta do is toss the ball!”

“I said, _I can't._ ” Tobio's voice almost rose to a yell. He did _not_ want to have this conversation.

“Let's talk about something else,” Takeda-san stepped in. Hinata pouted a little, but Tobio was grateful. “Do you have any questions for us?”

“Erm...” Tobio was just glad that he'd finally found a place to stay. And work. He still couldn't believe that Ukai-san would just offer him a job at his corner store. But as he took another bite of tamagoyaki, Tobio realised something. “Earlier, you said you all eat together on Fridays. What about other meals?”

“Are you worried about having to cook for yourself?” Takeda-san asked, seemingly able to read Tobio's mind.

Tobio nodded.

“Don't worry,” Shimizu-san said. “We can teach you.”

“And you're not the only one who can't cook. Hinata is a disaster in the kitchen, too.” Ennoshita-san's words were followed by an immediate cry of protest.

 

~~~

 

Two hours later, Tobio flopped down on a futon he would be borrowing form Takeda-san until he had the time to furnish his room. It wasn't as spacious as Tobio's old room at his parents' house, but he was fine with that. To begin with, he'd never had a lot of stuff, and he doubted that this would change anytime soon. More important was that he'd finally found a place to stay where he felt welcome. Nobody had protested his moving in, and in the morning he'd go over the details of the lease with Takeda-san. He still had to figure out what to do about having to talk to his parents, since he needed their permission to sign the lease, but that was a problem for tomorrow.

For now, it was time to sleep.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And finally, we've had the first KageHina interaction :D  
> Updates might not be as frequent from now on since the next uni semester starts again on Monday and I'll have to get used to my new schedule again. This is also the point where my outline turns from being useful to being a random assortment of bullet points. We'll see how it goes. At least I'll know that I can always find comfort in fic writing whenever organic chem is about to drive me up the wall again lmao


	4. Senpai

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I miraculously survived the first week of classes. From here on out, I'll try to update at least once a week or maybe once every two weeks if I get any busier. We'll see. I've never stuck to an actual update schedule, but I'll warn you guys on Tumblr whenever I'll be late.

The last night had been a whirlwind of long conversations, and by the time Ittetsu and Keishin went to bed, Ittetsu had craved the sweet embrace of sleep. When he woke up to the sound of Keishin's alarm going off, he could've just turned around and slept some more, but he had things to do. First, he'd have to go through the lease with Kageyama-kun and then there was that staff meeting in the afternoon that Ittetsu was entirely unprepared for. And so he dragged himself out of bed alongside his boyfriend, going through the motions of dressing himself and having breakfast with his mind still off in dreamland.

Only when Kageyama-kun entered the kitchen, did Ittetsu finally jolt out of his stupor.

“Ah, good morning,” he said, smiling up at the boy. “Why don't you join us? There're still some leftovers from last night if you want.”

“Thanks,” Kageyama-kun mumbled as Keishin got up to fetch him a bowl of rice and some chopsticks.

“We'll go over the lease after breakfast if that's alright with you,” Ittetsu said. “And I can walk you to Keishin's shop on my way to school.”

Kageyama-kun hummed and nodded.

The day before, Ittetsu had already noticed that Kageyama-kun wasn't a particularly talkative person but he'd chalked it up to him being overwhelmed with the situation. Having a fight with his parents, moving to a strange city, looking for a job and flat, and then coming out to complete strangers who then offered him work and place to stay was too much for anyone to handle in the span of a week. But even during breakfast, Kageyama-kun barely spoke, mostly nodding and shaking his head as he stuffed himself with food. Ittetsu hoped that the boy would eventually open up more, but he also didn't want to force him and make him uncomfortable.

And that was why Ittetsu didn't put up much protest when Kageyama-kun suggested that they just mail the documents for the lease to his parents.

“It's not like they'll have to pay for my rent, right?” Kageyama-kun said after Ittetsu had voiced his doubts. Ittetsu would have liked to at least talk to the parents on the phone, but in a way, he could also understand why Kageyama-kun was attempting to cut ties with them.

“Don't you think it would be good to at least call them to say that you've found somewhere to stay?” Ittetsu suggested.

“I can send them a text.”

Sighing, Ittetsu gave in and nodded. “Okay. Let me put these papers in an envelope and I'll drop them off at the post office on my way to school. You should get dressed for work.”

 

***

 

The walk from the house to Ukai-san's shop took them less than five minutes, during which Tobio mostly tried to calm his nerves. His high school had been very strict about their students having part-time jobs, and he'd been too busy playing volleyball to look for one anyway, so he really didn't know what to expect. It couldn't be worse than school, though, Tobio tried to tell himself. It was just your regular old corner store with vending machines outside and posters announcing “the bargains of the week”. It couldn't be too hard working there, could it?

A little bell rang over their heads as they stepped through the door, announcing their arrival.

“I'll be with you in a second!” Ukai-san's familiar voice came from somewhere in the back. Tobio let his gaze wander as he stepped up to the counter behind Takeda-san. There was a display of fresh fruit and vegetables right at the entrance and four narrow aisles leading to the freezers. The range of goods was small but comprehensive from what Tobio could see.

“Ah, it's you guys,” Ukai-san said, stepping out from a door labelled “staff only”.

“I came to drop off your new employee,” Takeda-san said. “And I must be going already. There's work waiting for me at school.”

“Oh, right,” Ukai-san leaned over the counter to place a quick kiss on Takeda-san's lips. “See you tonight.”

“Yeah, see you.”

Tobio watched the exchange with wide eyes. Knowing that Ukai-san and Takeda-san were dating was one thing, but seeing them being affectionate in public where anyone could walk in on them at any moment was something else entirely.

“What's with you?” Ukai-san asked once Takeda-san had left the shop. “Never seen a guy kiss another guy before?”

Tobio blushed.

“No?” At least not in real life. “I just... I mean...”

“Don't worry, you'll get there,” Ukai-san said, patting his shoulder. “Ittetsu told me why you fought with your parents. We've all been there. Well, most of us at least. I think Michimiya's and Shimizu's parents don't know yet.”

Tobio swallowed hard. He'd known that he couldn't be the only person whose family reacted poorly to a coming out. Heck, there was a reason why he'd never intended to tell his parents. But they found out anyway because he'd been reckless. God, he should've known better than to confess to Kindaichi at the Spring-High.

But things were about to get better so Tobio squared his shoulders and took a deep breath.

“What do I have to do?”

“Well, first of all, I'll have to show you around the shop.”

 

~~~

 

Ukai-san was explaining the cash register to Tobio when the bell at the entrance rang.

“Hey, boss,” the new arrival said, frowning at Tobio. “Who's that?”

“Your new co-worker, Kageyama Tobio,” Ukai-san explained. “Kageyama-kun, this is Tanaka Ryuunosuke. He'll show you how to restock the shelves later.”

Tobio had the distinct feeling that Tanaka-san was not too pleased with the prospect of having to teach him anything.

“Ugh, why me?” Tanaka-san whined, giving Tobio another once over.

“Because I have better things to do,” Ukai-san snapped, rolling his eyes and pushing the drawer of the cash register shut.

“Where'd you find this Frowny-kun anyway?”

Tobio wanted to point out that he wasn't the only person currently frowning, but he knew better than to start a fight. This guy looked like he knew how to throw a punch, and Tobio had experienced enough physical altercations in the last couple of months to last him a lifetime.

“Michimiya found Kageyama-kun camping out at the manga café,” Ukai-san explained. “He's living with us now.”

“How do you know this isn't going to end in another Yoshida situation?”

“Tanaka,” Ukai-san said, folding his hands in front of his chest, “stop it. Kageyama-kun is not going to be a homophobic arse towards anyone. It's also not your place to criticise who I'm hiring. So how about you do your senpai thing and show Kageyama-kun how to restock the shelves, hm?”

At the sound of the word “senpai” Tanaka-san's expression seemed to magically clear up.

“You can count on me!” he said, stepping behind the counter and patting Tobio's shoulder so hard his knees almost buckled in surprise.

Tobio had no idea what exactly had happened for Tanaka-san to go from trying to be threatening to having him patiently explain how to put price stickers on the wares but he wasn't going to complain.

 

~~~

 

By the time Tobio was back at the shared house, he was dead on his feet. It was like all of the stamina he'd built up playing volleyball had completely disappeared in the last couple of months. Even worse was the mental fatigue. He barely even registered the voices coming from the kitchen as he stumbled his way into his room where he immediately dropped onto the futon he'd forgotten to put away in the morning. Tobio probably would've fallen asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow if it hadn't been for his grumbling stomach. He'd only had a meat bun for lunch – delicious but not exactly filling.

Tobio was debating whether it was worth it to get up and go to the kitchen or if he should just go ahead and skip dinner when someone knocked on his door.

“Yes?” he grumbled, turning over so he could see who was trying to bother him. Ennoshita-san pushed open the door a little.

“I'm going to show Hinata how to make rice omelettes,” he said. “Do you want to join us?”

Tobio's stomach answered for him, letting out the most pathetic rumble and causing Ennoshita-san to grin widely.

“I'll take that as a yes.”

Tobio forced himself to get up and followed Ennoshita-san to the kitchen where Hinata was sitting on the countertop, playing around on his phone.

“Ah! Can we get started now?” he asked, excitedly jumping down and putting away his phone.

It hadn't even been twenty-four hours since Tobio had met the guy for the first time, but he already knew that Hinata was going to be a pain in the ass to deal with. He was nosy and noisy and way too happy about being allowed to crack the eggs into a bowl. If Tobio hadn't known that Hinata had recently graduated high school, he would've thought that he was dealing with a middle school kid.

Tobio tried his best to ignore his chatter and to focus on Ennoshita-san's instructions instead but everything about Hinata demanded attention. His voice was shrill, his hair bright orange, and he was once again bothering Tobio about the _one_ thing he didn't want to think about.

“Why don't you want to play volleyball anymore?” Hinata asked, pouring the egg mixture into the pan. “You look like you have the build for it, so you can't have been _bad_.”

Tobio's right eye twitched. How dare this half-pint suggest that Tobio was _bad at volleyball_!

“I was my team's starting setter, so fuck off.”

“Now, now, you two,” Ennoshita-san stepped in, turning down the heat, “you'll burn the omelette if you don't focus.”

Tobio glared at Hinata, who pouted back at him. And for about two seconds Tobio thought he was cute – a ridiculous thought that was immediately shoved aside in favour of annoyance.

“What are we supposed to do next?” he asked gruffly.

“Put one-third of the rice on top of the omelette...”

Fifteen minutes later, the three sat around the kitchen table, eating the rice omelettes they had just made. Tobio was glad that he hadn't skipped dinner, and he was also glad that Hinata was too busy inhaling his food to keep pestering him about volleyball. Instead, Ennoshita-san asked Tobio about his day at work.

“You must've met Tanaka today, right?”

“Hmm,” Tobio hummed, his mouth stuffed full.

“I hope he didn't embarrass himself by picking a fight with you.”

“Erm...” Tobio swallowed. “He was kinda confrontational at first.”

Ennoshita-san sighed, pinching his nose between his fingers. “Don't take his threats too seriously, he's just posturing. He's a good guy. Mostly.”

“Is he a friend of yours?” Tobio asked.

Hinata started giggling uncontrollably while a distinct red colour settled upon Ennoshita-san's face.

“You could say that,” Ennoshita-san mumbled.

“They are _boyfriends_ ,” Hinata supplied cheerily.

“Oh.” Tobio blinked. Something about Tanaka-san's macho demeanour had just screamed “straight guy”, but then again, Tobio had heard people say similar things about himself in the wake of his coming out. _“Kageyama's not very camp, is he? I would've never thought he'd turn out to be a homo.”_ Sometimes Tobio had wondered if these gossips had been aware that he could hear them talking.

“Yeah, I don't know how that happened either, to be honest,” Ennoshita-san sighed. “But if Tanaka is ever being a dick to you, tell me. Or just tell him that you'll tell me. I have him under control. Mostly.”

“Er, thanks,” Tobio said, picking up the last bit of rice with his chopsticks.

This was all very different from what he was used to. Everyone talked so openly about their gay relationships, and nobody judged Tobio for being gay because he was just like them. Out of nowhere, Tobio had suddenly gained three pairs of role models. Compared to that, having one extra annoying housemate suddenly seemed like nothing.

 


	5. Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made a [myWriteClub account](https://www.mywriteclub.com/beta/writers/Gilrael) if anyone wants to follow my writing progress!

From: Mum

> We've cosigned your lease and sent it back. I hope you are doing well.

> Love, Mum

 

***

 

As far as employees went, Keishin could've done worse than Kageyama-kun. He didn't complain, he could lug around heavy boxes, and he carried out his tasks with a certain air of perfectionism that Keishin hadn't really expected from him. There was one problem, however. Kageyama-kun was not a people person. He was perfectly polite, he would help short old ladies get down the soy sauce from the top shelf, but his smile was the stuff of nightmares. It was almost as if Kageyama-kun had never actually had a reason to smile so he'd never learnt how to do it. He always showed too much teeth and the gleam in his eyes was borderline manic.

Tanaka thought it was hilarious. Keishin felt the need to smoke an entire pack of cigarettes whenever he witnessed how Kageyama-kun's smile made small kids cry.

Eventually, they settled on Kageyama-kun being banned from forcing himself to smile. A neutral expression would suffice until they could find a way to train Kageyama-kun's facial muscles to drop the serial-killer expression.

 

***

 

Compared to Tobio's week at the manga café, the first week at the shared house went by pretty quickly. Soon, he found himself in a steady routine that wasn't plagued with anxiety. In the mornings, he'd get up early to go for a run with Shimizu-san and/or Hinata (if the latter joined, the run would turn into a competition without fail), and then they'd have breakfast together. After that Tobio would go to work. Most of the time, he'd spend his lunch break with Tanaka-san, and they'd eat meat buns or the premade bentos they sold at the store while Tanaka-san waxed poetic about one topic or another. Tobio just nodded along with whatever it was Tanaka-san was talking about. Then it was back to work until evening when Tobio would return home. More often than not, Michimiya-san or Ennoshita-san would then teach Tobio and Hinata how to cook simple meals. After dinner, Tobio would take a bath and almost immediately fall asleep. Rinse and repeat.

On the surface, Tobio's new life might have seemed boring, but he liked it that way. He liked not having to worry about whether or not his classmates had made up new stories about him. He liked being able to let his brain wander while he restocked shelves instead of constantly having to focus on lessons. Most importantly, though, Tobio didn't feel lonely and out of place at the dinner table. Someone was always home, someone was always willing to fill in the silence with mindless small talk (or a never-ending stream of questions about Tobio's volleyball career in Hinata's case), and when there were more people around, nobody left Tobio out of the conversation.

It was nice and comfortable despite the fact that Tobio barely even knew these people. With them, he could just be himself. He was finally free of the shackles of high school and his parents' expectations.

 

~~~

 

“We'll be closing after lunch on Saturday,” Ukai-san told Tobio during a Friday dinner. “The neighbourhood association organised a practice match with another amateur volleyball team, so Tanaka and I won't be around.”

Tobio nodded. Getting an afternoon off sounded good. Maybe he could use the time to finally buy his own futon and other smaller necessities that he was lacking.

“Speaking of the practice match,” Michimiya-san chimed in, “should we all go and watch it together like last time?”

“I was going to watch anyway,” Ennoshita-san said.

“Same here,” Takeda-san added.

“Yay! More people to cheer for us!” Hinata exclaimed, his smile so bright it could've outshone the sun.

“Do you want to join us as well, Kageyama-kun?” Kiyoko-san asked.

Tobio couldn't remember the last time he'd been invited to join a group outing. It wasn't like he'd been a complete outcast at his school – at least not before the Spring-High debacle – but he couldn't imagine that anyone would have missed him if he hadn't gone to dinner with his teammates, and his classmates had only ever wanted him to join their match-making parties, which Tobio had always declined for very obvious reasons.

“If... if it's okay with everyone.”

“Why wouldn't it be okay?” Michimiya-san asked, rolling her eyes. “We can't let our new friend spend an afternoon alone when we're all out having fun together, can we?”

Hours later, when Tobio returned to his room to lay out the futon, Michimiya-san's words were still replaying in his mind. “Our new friend” she had said and nobody had protested that statement. Tobio had friends now, or at the very least people who would like to be his friends. That thought was like a blanket wrapped around Tobio's shoulders – comfortable and warm.

 

~~~

 

Sitting in the stands and watching the two teams warm up, Tobio realised that coming to see the match might have been a bad idea. His friends were already yelling encouragements down at Ukai-san, Tanaka-san and Hinata while Tobio sat off to the side, awkwardly fiddling with the hem of his shirt. Was he supposed to join in with the cheering or would that be weird? And even then what was he supposed to say? And so he sat there, silently watching as Ukai-san shook hands with the captain of the other team before everyone took up their positions.

For a moment, Tobio was surprised to see Hinata wearing a normal jersey. He had the build of a libero, but there he was, taking up a position as one of the middle blockers. Well, he _had_ asked Tobio for tosses, hadn't he? That wouldn't have made sense if he was a libero. Still, it was weird to have Hinata in a position that required height.

But as Tobio continued to watch the game, it quickly became apparent why Hinata was a middle blocker. It wasn't that his technique was good – in fact, his technique was entirely unpolished like that of a middle school kid – but it had been a while since Tobio had seen someone with reflexes this fast. Sometimes it seemed that he would jump purely on instinct. And that _jump_. Tobio wasn't watching at the right angle to be entirely certain about this, but to him, it seemed like Hinata's highest jump rivalled that of the team's other middle blocker who was twenty centimetres taller than him. It was fascinating and infuriating to watch. Hinata was talented, immensely so, but it was like that talent was wasted on him, like he had never bothered to learn how to do things properly.

By the end of the first set, Tobio wanted to switch places with Ukai-san. Not that Ukai-san wasn't a good setter. He was reliable and played to his teammates' strengths, but the way he tossed to Hinata, in particular, wasn't good enough. Hinata's quick attack could've been downright deadly with a faster toss.

“Everything alright?” Ennoshita-san asked, one eyebrow raised. “You look kinda constipated.”

“I'm fine,” Tobio mumbled. “Just... thinking.”

“Okay then.”

For the rest of the game, Tobio continued to analyse Hinata, taking stock of his strengths and weaknesses. The biggest problem was definitely his form whenever he tried to receive a ball. He had the reflexes and speed to position himself quickly, but he lacked the necessary control for a clean return to the setter. His serves weren't spectacular either, but again, it was mostly a matter of lacking control. The thing that was truly breathtaking, though, was the way he jumped whenever he blocked or spiked, and his sheer determination to keep the ball in the game.

Tobio had never seen someone quite like Hinata but he would be damned if he couldn't turn the guy into a proper middle blocker.

 

~~~

 

The neighbourhood association managed to win three out of five sets in the end. The last set especially had been nerve-wracking to watch.

“Damn, that was a close one,” Michimiya-san sighed as everyone got up from their seats. “But Hinata-kun is getting a lot better, isn't he?”

“Definitely,” Ennoshita-san agreed, making Tobio wonder just how terrible Hinata must've been in the beginning.

“He does put in a lot of work,” Shimizu-san added.

“If only he had applied this work ethic in school,” Takeda-san lamented, following everyone down the stairs as they went to meet the teams.

While everyone else congratulated the neighbourhood association players, Tobio was laser-focused on Hinata, grabbing his arm and pulling him aside.

“Gwah!” Hinata squawked in surprise, blinking as he looked at Tobio with wide eyes. “What the heck?”

“Since when have you been playing volleyball?” Tobio asked.

“Er, technically since I started middle school, but my school didn't have a club and I only managed to get enough members to actually play when I was in my third year. Why are you asking?”

Third year of middle school. That still left three years of high school.

“What about your high school team? Did they let you play in matches?”

“Er, not all that much,” Hinata muttered, looking down at his shoes. “They always said I was too short and inexperienced... But... Why are you asking?”

Tobio was furious. Hadn't these people seen his potential? If Tobio had been on that team he would have turned Hinata into a weapon. He would have found a way to make use of his athleticism and quick reactions.

“Because you suck,” Tobio said. He hadn't meant for it to sound so harsh but the words left his mouth before he could stop them, making Hinata bristle.

“You suck even worse! You don't even play volleyball anymore.” Hinata's words struck Tobio right where it hurt, but he brushed them off. There was something more important than his ego.

“Tomorrow morning. In the backyard. We'll work on your abysmal receiving. We'll also have to correct your spiking form.”

For a moment, Hinata appeared to be stunned, his warm brown eyes fixed on Tobio as if he was a ghost or some other kind of mythical being. But then Hinata's usual one-thousand-watt smile returned, and he threw himself at Tobio, arms wrapped tightly around the taller boy's torso.

Tobio felt warm all over. He didn't know whether to return the hug or to pry Hinata off of him, so he just stood there and let it happen, his own heartbeat thumping loudly in his ears.

 

***

 

When Ittetsu heard Hinata-kun raise his voice at Kageyama-kun, he was poised to step in at any moment, but it seemed like his concern wasn't necessary. At first, Kageyama-kun looked decidedly uncomfortable with Hinata-kun's sudden hug, but then his features slowly smoothed into a smile. It was a tiny thing, just a little quirk at the corner of Kageyama-kun's mouth, but it was the first time Ittetsu had seen a genuine smile on his face.

“Well, that's unusual,” Keishin said as he noticed what was going on with his two youngest housemates. “Aren't they always at each other's throats?”

“I think Kageyama-kun offered to practise with Hinata-kun,” Ittetsu explained.

“Huh. Maybe Hinata will stop bothering me outside of team practice now,” Keishin mused, taking a sip of water from his plastic bottle. “But we need to start cleaning up.”

Keishin clapped his hands, calling everyone to order and delegating tasks.

Ittetsu smiled as he watched Kageyama-kun help Hinata-kun with rolling up the net. They were back to bickering again, but the air around them had changed.

 _They might not be friends yet_ , he thought, _but they'll get there._

 


	6. Volleyball

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is brought to you by Migraine Gil. I had to do something to distract myself from my headache, so I wrote this with the screen brightness turned all the way down. I hope there aren't too many weird grammar mistakes and typos lmao

It had been a while since Tobio last held a volleyball in his hands. He threw it in the air a couple of times and caught it, trying to remember how it felt to serve and toss and block.

“Come on! I thought we were going to practise!” Hinata complained, jumping up and down in the middle of the backyard.

Tobio rolled his eyes. “We'll start with your receives.”

“Ugh, why?”

“Because the setter won't be able to toss to you if there is no receive,” Tobio snapped. “Now get into position and stop complaining or you can forget about practice.”

Pouting and grumbling, Hinata did as he was told.

“Try to return the ball to me as directly as possible,” Tobio said, tossing the ball in the air and hitting it in Hinata's direction. He paid close attention to Hinata's movements as he brought his wrists together. Hinata managed to receive the ball, but Tobio had to take more than a couple of steps to catch it out of the air.

“You swing your arms too much. Do it more like this.”

For the next hour, Tobio spiked the ball at Hinata again and again, trying to correct Hinata's stance and movements as he went. Tobio barely realised how much time had passed until Ukai-san came outside to inform him that he had ten minutes to take shower before he had to go to the shop.

“Aw, and I was just getting the hang of it,” Hinata sighed. “And I didn't get to spike the ball even once!”

“It's my day off tomorrow,” Tobio said as they returned inside. “We'll have plenty of time then.”

The smile he received in return left Tobio with a slightly floaty feeling in his stomach, but he didn't have the time to think about that if he didn't want to be late for work.

 

~~~

 

The next morning, Tobio was woken by a knock on his door. Grumbling, he sat up in his borrowed futon and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

“Yes?”

The door opened to reveal a familiar mop of red hair that was attached to an incredibly bouncy Hinata.

“Good morning! You said we'd practise today!” Hinata exclaimed. Tobio sighed and untangled himself from the sheets.

“We should have breakfast first...”

“I made toast and eggs!”

“I'll be there in a minute.”

_What did I get myself into?_ Tobio wondered as he got dressed and followed Hinata into the kitchen. There was something infectious about Hinata's enthusiasm but Tobio had to be careful with his shoulder. The doctor and physiotherapist had told him that he could go back to playing volleyball but that he would have to take it easy and carefully rebuild his muscles, and even then, the mobility of his right arm might never be the same again.

After breakfast, they started off their training session by going for a run, their leisurely jog quickly devolving into a race to see who was faster and had more stamina. The only reason why Tobio won was that he had longer legs, but there was no way he would ever admit to that. Having arrived back at the house, they revisited yesterday's receive drills until Hinata started complaining that he finally wanted to spike. Lacking a proper net, they had to make do with the washing line in the backyard.

“How are we going to do this?” Hinata asked, squeezing the ball between his palms.

“Throw the ball at me, I toss and you spike,” Tobio said matter-of-factly. How else were they supposed to do it? Not like anyone else was around to help out. Ennoshita-san, Michimiya-san and Kiyoko-san were busy with final exams, Takeda-san was working on the curriculum for the next school year, and Ukai-san was at the shop as always.

“Got it!” Hinata said, throwing the ball into the air in a nice wide arc. To Tobio's surprise, his body moved almost on its own, his instincts still intact even after months of avoiding volleyball. The accuracy of his toss wasn't quite there yet, however. Hinata barely managed to jump high enough to reach the ball, yet he still somehow managed to hit it over the line.

“I know I can jump high, but not _that_ high,” Hinata complained.

“ _I know_ ,” Tobio grumbled, making a mental note to himself to use less force for his next toss. “One more!”

Tobio took a couple of steadying breaths as Hinata ran to fetch their ball. The next toss was already a lot better if a little too slow for Tobio's taste, but Hinata hit it perfectly.

“The next toss will be faster,” Tobio announced to him, and Hinata simply nodded.

After all these months of abstaining from volleyball, Tobio had forgotten how exhilarating it was to have someone spike his tosses. Hinata wasn't even close to having reached his full potential yet, but sometimes Tobio would catch glimpses of it in the way Hinata only needed a handful of tries to get used to the increased speed of Tobio's tosses, never giving up, always shaking off failure in a matter of seconds.

Over the next couple of weeks, Hinata made a lot of progress. No matter how hard Tobio pushed him, he took everything in stride. The endless drills gave his movements more confidence and the races further improved his immense stamina. Tobio was proud of Hinata, and although Hinata could still be a bit of an annoyance at times, Tobio enjoyed his company. There were plenty of reasons to laugh with and at him in between the inevitable bickering. And even the bickering lost its bite when Hinata gave Tobio one of his disarming smiles. Tobio didn't know how or why it happened, but soon he caught himself thinking that he was looking forward to their next training session.

 

***

 

“How was your first day at vocational school?” Ittetsu asked when Hinata-kun joined him and Keishin in the living room.

“It was fine,” Hinata-kun sighed. “My classmates are nice enough, but the teachers seem really strict.”

“Just be sure to do your homework and you'll be fine,” Ittetsu tried to encourage him. Keishin snorted.

“I'm sure Hinata would rather spend his evenings playing volleyball with Kageyama than doing homework,” he teased, causing Hinata-kun's cheeks to flush a deep red.

The amount of time Hinata-kun had spent in the backyard with Kageyama-kun had indeed been startling. It seemed like a good thing to Ittetsu, though, for both Hinata-kun and Kageyama-kun. Hinata-kun finally had someone who was able to keep up with his insane desire for volleyball, and Kageyama-kun had started opening up a little. He didn't really talk about himself or his past yet, but at least he talked about Hinata-kun.

“I know I need to do well in school,” Hinata-kun mumbled, “or I might as well have gone with my parents. But I need a hobby outside of school, right?”

“That's true,” Ittetsu said, trying to be reassuring. “But you might want to cut back on volleyball if it interferes with your school work.”

“I'm definitely not complaining about you practising with Kageyama,” Keishin added, leaning back on the couch. “The guy clearly knows what he's doing. You've improved a lot.”

Ittetsu suddenly had an idea. What if Kageyama-kun joined Keishin's team? Being on a team might do him some good. From what Ittetsu had seen the boy had quite the competitive streak, so he'd probably even enjoy a rivalry with Keishin for the position of setter.

Ittetsu brought up the idea when he and Keishin went to bed.

“Hmm...” Keishin hummed and lifted up the blanket so Ittetsu could join him beneath it. “We could use another setter. I'm not getting any younger, after all.”

“Oh hush, you,” Ittetsu chided, snuggling close to his boyfriend's chest. “You're not even thirty yet, so stop talking like you're an old man.”

Keishin chuckled and pressed an affectionate kiss on top of Ittetsu's head.

“I can talk to him about it at work tomorrow,” he said.

“Thank you,” Ittetsu sighed. “I'm probably being a little overbearing but I want him to know that just because he had a falling out with his family doesn't mean he has nowhere else to go.”

“I know,” Keishin said, softly petting Ittetsu's hair. “This is one of the things I love about you. You always go above and beyond for the people you care about and won't rest until they are happy. You're stubborn that way.”

Smiling, Ittetsu nuzzled Keishin's neck. “I love you, too.”

 

***

 

“Hinata's receives are getting better every week,” Ukai-san said, following Tobio who was carrying a box of cat food.

“He was just lacking training,” Tobio said, setting down the box on the floor next to the shelves with the pet foods.

“And you're the one training him,” Ukai-san said, patting Tobio's shoulder encouragingly. “You should join our team. We could use someone like you.”

When Tobio had been the official setter for his middle school team, he'd ended up being benched because he'd alienated everyone with his perfectionism. He'd tried to push them to their limits, and they had rejected him. Three years later, when his high school team found out about Tobio being gay, the tournament had ended in disaster as well. Clearly, Tobio wasn't meant to be on a volleyball team. He was too selfish and too awkward, easily replaced with someone who was better at reading social cues than he was.

Ukai-san's offer to join the neighbourhood association team came as a surprise. Tobio hadn't even dared to consider such a thing. Tobio's heart could only take so much, and if another team threw him aside, it would probably break him. No matter how much he missed playing volleyball, he would have to make do with training Hinata to be a better player.

“I'm sorry, but I'd rather not join,” Tobio said, not daring to look Ukai-san in the eyes.

“Huh? O-okay,” Ukai-san stuttered, sounding surprised. “It's completely up to you. But you can always come to me if you change your mind.”

Tobio highly doubted that that would ever happen, but he still nodded. “I should probably get back to restocking...”

“Do that.”

Tobio could feel Ukai-san's eyes on him as he kneeled down to cut open the box and started placing its contents on the shelf, hoping that he hadn't disappointed Ukai-san.

 

~~~

 

Stepping outside for his customary morning run, Tobio was surprised to see Hinata waiting for him with an unusual frown plastered on his face.

“Ukai-san said you rejected his offer to join the team,” Hinata blurted out. “Is that true?”

“Yes,” Tobio said and started running, not even waiting for Hinata to get ready. He didn't want to talk about this. Especially not with Hinata. Hinata was a literal ray of sunshine, the kind of person who got along with everyone and would thus never understand why Tobio struggled to form even superficial connections with other people.

“Hey, that was a false start!” Hinata yelled indignantly, doing his best to catch up with Tobio. But Tobio was hell-bent on getting away. He sped up, turning a sharp corner, hoping to shake off his pursuer, but he had completely forgotten about the pedestrian light at the next intersection. He could have just turned another corner and not crossed the road, but that would lead Tobio into an unfamiliar part of town and he didn't have his phone with him to navigate. And that moment of hesitation was all it took for Hinata to catch up with him.

“Why don't you want to join the team?” he asked, barely out of breath and jogging in place as they waited for the light to turn green. “Is it because we already have a setter? I'm sure Ukai-san wouldn't mind letting you play now and then.”

“That's not it.” If only it were that easy.

The light turned green and Tobio ran off, trying to ignore Hinata's unstoppable flow of words behind him.

“Then what is it? You've been weird about volleyball ever since you came here,” Hinata complained. “And I just wanna know why. You are an amazing setter. I've never seen anyone with this much control and accuracy. Your tosses are like _whoosh!_ And you must've skipped out on practising for ages with how you're talking, so that makes you even more amazing!”

Tobio didn't want to hear this. Soon, his legs were screaming with pain as he pushed off the ground even harder, trying to shake off Hinata, but the guy was tenacious, keeping up with him until they had circled back around to the house. Tobio was gasping for air as he stumbled through the front door and kicked off his running shoes. He needed water, fast.

“C'mon, Kageyama-kun,” Hinata said breathlessly as he followed Tobio into the kitchen, “talk to me. We're friends, right?”

Tobio's hand froze halfway to the cupboard where they kept the cups.

_Friends_. It was still such a foreign concept to Tobio, but he knew that friends were supposed to confide in each other.

“I'm sure you'll feel better when you talk.”

It was a ridiculous thought, one Tobio was loath to entertain, but maybe Hinata was right. Maybe talking would help make him feel better.

“I have work soon, and you need to go to school,” Tobio said, finally finishing his movement to open the cupboard and fetch a glass. “We'll talk tonight.”

“Okay. Come to my room after dinner?”

Tobio filled up the glass with tap water, gulped it all down and refilled it.

“If you don't, I'll come find you,” Hinata threatened.

“I'll be there,” Tobio promised, despite the way his intestines were curling in on themselves at the mere thought of having to relive his most painful memories.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Most of the next chapter is already written, so there might be another update in the next couple of days if my migraine doesn't get any worse.


	7. Past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Be prepared for descriptions of an injury (nothing graphic) and the same levels of homophobia that have been mentioned throughout the fic already.

Fist raised to knock on Hinata's door, Tobio hesitated. He still doubted whether this whole talking thing was a good idea. He'd stressed about it the entire day at work, and he'd barely had any appetite at dinner as a result. But he'd told Hinata that they would talk, so there was no going back now.

He knocked on the door.

“Come in!”

Tobio took a deep breath before following the invitation. He'd never been inside of Hinata's room before. It was roughly the same size as Tobio's but it felt smaller with all the clutter inside of it. The walls were covered in a mix of volleyball and car posters, and Hinata's desk was already littered with books and loose sheets of paper, although his school year had barely even started. Hinata was sitting cross-legged on his bed, looking at Tobio, eyes shining with curiosity.

“You can sit wherever,” Hinata said.

Tobio nodded, choosing to sit down in Hinata's desk chair.

“What do you want to know?” Tobio asked gruffly.

“Why you are so... _weird_ about volleyball.”

“That's... That will take a while to explain,” Tobio mumbled, eyes fixed on the poster above Hinata's head. It showed the mascot of the high school volleyball tournaments.

“We have all the time in the world.”

 

~~~

 

When Tobio first entered middle school, he joined the volleyball team because his parents pushed him to do it. They had been worried about his lack of friends and had decided that playing on a team would be good for him. Tobio didn't end up making a lot of friends, but he wasn't too bothered by that. What he'd found instead was a passion. Volleyball was something he was good at, and as he continued to work on his skills he became even better at it. By the time he made it onto the starting team in his third year, he'd become obsessed.

The first blow to his ego happened when his team turned their backs on him during a match. The rejection stung more than physical pain ever could, especially since Kindaichi had been among those who ignored his toss, letting it fall to the ground with a resounding thud. At that point, Tobio finally had to admit to himself that he had a crush on Kindaichi. It never really made sense to Tobio why it had to be Kindaichi of all people but the way his chest hurt whenever he passed him in the hallways at school only to be completely ignored or scoffed at was proof enough.

Tobio deliberately chose to go to a different high school than his teammates, and for about a year, things were great. While Tobio failed to establish friendships with the first- and second-years, he got along with the third-years. Sugawara-san, Daichi-san and Azumane-san looked out for him and mediated when Tobio lost his temper with other members of the team. After they graduated, though, things got rough. The new third-years resented his talent and without mediators, Tobio was quickly pushed to the sidelines. He only made it back onto the starting line-up in his third year.

Tobio reaped the rewards of his dedication during the Inter-High where his team went to Nationals and persevered until the quarterfinals. As a result, he'd been approached by a scout from a university team who offered him a scholarship. And for the next months until the Spring-High prelims, everything was great. Tobio's parents were proud, his kouhais looked up to him and his classmates were jealous because he didn't have to worry about university entrance exams.

And then Tobio ran into Kindaichi in the bathrooms of the Sendai City Gymnasium.

It wasn't much of a chance encounter, considering that they played volleyball in the same prefecture, and yet it was the first time Kindaichi didn't just sneer at Tobio before shoving his way past him. Kindaichi's behaviour always managed to reopen old wounds, but this time was different. They actually talked. It was tense and awkward, finally escalating in a shouting match because they were both too stubborn to apologise.

“All you ever did was order me around like you were hot shit–”

“I wanted you to improve!”

“As if you even _cared_ about any of us!”

“I cared about you! I had a freaking crush on you!”

And that was when disaster struck. A group of Tobio's teammates chose that exact moment to enter the bathrooms.

The word that Kageyama Tobio was gay spread through the gymnasium like wildfire. It had just been a slip of the tongue, Tobio had never intended to confess or come out. And it might have been fine if Kindaichi had been the only one who heard him. As much as Kindaichi seemed to hate Tobio, he wasn't the type to spread rumours. But that wasn't what happened, and the consequences were palpable.

Having made it to Nationals in the Inter-High meant that Tobio's team was seeded, and thus immediately had to go up against a strong opponent. Tobio tried hard to keep his head in the game, but the general unrest in the team made it hard to focus. They won by the skin of their teeth, and by the end of that first match, Tobio was already exhausted beyond belief. Everyone shuffled their feet as their coach tried to figure out what was wrong with them. Nobody dared to say anything.

Tobio barely had any recollection of what exactly happened in the next match. He remembered that they'd been playing Kindaichi's team. He remembered being first up to serve, and then everything blurred together until the moment he collided with one of his teammates at the tail end of the first set. Both of them had tried to dive for the ball but failed to properly communicate. In a last attempt to stop the collision, Tobio tried to twist his upper body away, but it was futile. Excruciating pain shot through his shoulder as his teammate fell on it.

At the hospital, Tobio was informed that, among other less serious injuries, he'd sustained a complicated fracture to his collarbone which was now pressing against a nerve. As the doctor discussed the pros and cons of surgery with Tobio's parents, it felt like iron claws were wrapping themselves around Tobio's rib cage. He had no idea how the match had ended, but even if his team had managed to win with their backup setter, Tobio wouldn't be going to Nationals with them. His high school volleyball career was over. There was no way he would recover from surgery in time to return to the court.

“Will he be able to play volleyball again? What about his athletic scholarship?” Tobio's dad asked, gently petting Tobio's hand. It was one of the last shows of affection Tobio remembered getting from his parents.

“The chances of recovery are good, but we have to wait and see,” the doctor said, smiling ruefully. “I'm afraid, however, that he might not be ready to join proper volleyball training by the time he starts university.”

Tobio couldn't even find the energy to cry. He just stared down at his shaking hands, feeling strangely disconnected from his body. Maybe it was the shock, maybe it was the painkillers, Tobio didn't know why, but he felt numb inside.

After it was decided that Tobio would have surgery, the doctor left, leaving Tobio alone with his parents. Tobio's mum fussed with his pillow, while his dad stood at the window and stared at the rain that was pelting against it.

“How did this even happen?” Tobio's mum muttered. “You're usually so focused when you are on the court.”

She would find out a week later after Tobio had been sent home from the hospital. He hadn't gone back to school yet, the pain in his shoulder still too severe, even after the surgery or maybe because of it. But he didn't need to set a foot inside a classroom for the gossip to haunt him.

Tobio didn't know who exactly had told his mother that there was a rumour going around that he had confessed to a guy from a different school at the volleyball tournament. They lived in a small town, so it could have been anyone.

“Is that true?” Tobio's parents had asked, and as much as Tobio would've loved to lie, he knew that his parents would see right through him. And so he nodded, kicking off a lengthy monologue from his father about how he'd probably confused friendship for something more, and that he'd eventually find a nice girl to settle down with. Tobio's mum simply nodded along to everything her husband said. Tobio was fuming inside, but he didn't protest. He didn't know how to explain why he was so certain that he could never fall in love with a woman. It was a simple fact of his life, something he knew to be true, but he didn't have the words to express it.

A few days later, the person in charge of his scholarship called to inquire about his injury. When Tobio explained that the doctors couldn't give an exact time for his recovery, the woman was “disappointed to tell him that this meant that she couldn't guarantee him a scholarship anymore.”

That was the point when Tobio's relationship with his parents truly started to fall apart. He could live with them trying to ignore his sexuality, but he couldn't live with being told that he shouldn't have focused on volleyball so much. Hadn't they been the ones to encourage him to take up a team sport? Hadn't they praised him for his accomplishments within the sport? Hadn't they been _proud of him_? Before the accident, Tobio would've thrown himself into training to burn off his anger and frustration. Now he didn't have an outlet anymore, so he lashed out at his parents. It was easier to ignore the way his classmates treated him, he'd never been particularly close with any of them after all, but there was only so much bullshit he could take.

Shortly before graduation, Tobio got into his first fistfight with one of his former teammates. It was over pretty quickly, two others stepping in to tear them away from each other. Luckily, this happened when no teachers were around, and the only evidence of the fight were Tobio's bruised knuckles and the guy's swollen cheek.

Three weeks later, Tobio found himself crying in front of a stranger at a manga café, and the rest was history.

 

~~~

 

Tobio felt like he'd ripped off his entire skin, exposing himself like he'd never done before. Now Hinata knew what a fuck up he was, how he'd gotten into useless fights and disappointed his parents. Hinata hadn't said a single word while Tobio spilt his guts. The only sound he'd made was a single gasp when Tobio had told him about his injured collarbone.

Tobio didn't dare look at Hinata's face, locking his gaze on his own clenched fists as he waited for a reaction.

“Oh.” There was the rustling of cloth and then Hinata blew his nose.

Tobio's head snapped up. Hinata was crying, dabbing at his face with a tissue from the box on his bedside table.

“Why are you crying?” This didn't make sense. _Tobio_ should be the one crying. He was the one who'd fucked up his own future by carelessly confessing his feelings in a public bathroom.

“Because this is unfair!” Hinata sniffled. “You're _good_! Why would your team even care that you're gay? Why does it matter? And the way your parents dismissed the whole thing... That's such bullshit. It's not like you did any of this on purpose.”

Tobio didn't know what to say. It was like he'd only had a limited word count for the day and he'd used it all up when he'd told his story.

“I wish we could've gone to the same high school,” Hinata said, punctuating the sentiment by blowing his nose again. “I would've given all of those assholes a piece of my mind.”

Tobio swallowed hard. Hadn't he thought the exact same thing when Hinata told him that his teammates wouldn't let him play in official matches?

“That... That would've been nice.”

The sight of Hinata smiling through his tears hit Tobio like a punch to the gut. He was beautiful, even when his eyes were puffy and his skin was red and blotchy.

“Hey, erm, about your shoulder,” Hinata suddenly said, pulling Tobio from his little moment of reverie. “Is it okay now? Like... you're not in pain when we're practising together, right?”

“I know my limits,” Tobio said. “I probably couldn't compete on a university level anymore, but it's healed well enough.”

Hinata heaved a sigh of relief. “I still think it would be cool if you joined the neighbourhood team, but I'm not gonna bother you about it. I mean, this way it's like you are my personal trainer!”

Tobio rolled his eyes, but he couldn't stop the swell of affection in his chest. Maybe Hinata wasn't so bad, after all.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Kageyama is a precious baby crow that has to be protected at all costs," she says while writing ~1.5k words of tragic backstory lol


	8. Belonging

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's mostly a transitional chapter leading into the second part of the story, so it's a little shorter than usual. Hope you guys enjoy it anyway!

From: Mum

> Dear Tobio. We haven't heard from you in a while. Is everything okay?

> Love, Mum

 

~~~

 

“Tanaka, you're at work,” Ennoshita-san chided, but Tobio could tell that he didn't really mind that his boyfriend had his arms wrapped around him and was resting his head on his shoulders. The smile on his face gave him away.

“Not like there are any customers around,” Tanaka-san said.

“I'm a customer.”

“You don't count.”

“Kageyama-kun probably doesn't want to watch this.”

Tobio just shrugged. He didn't actually mind. Admittedly, it had taken a while to get used to being around all of these affectionate couples, but he was mostly just glad that he'd never have to worry about introducing a boyfriend to his housemates. Nobody would care.

Ennoshita-san still somehow managed to gently extricate himself from Tanaka-san's embrace so he could actually go and get the snacks he wanted to buy. Tobio watched as Tanaka-san followed Ennoshita-san around the shop like a loyal puppy, saying goodbye to his boyfriend with a kiss after ringing up his purchase.

Tanaka-san sighed deeply once the door slid shut behind Ennoshita-san, watching his boyfriend leave with a wistful expression.

“Tanaka-san... Can I ask you a question?” Tobio asked cautiously. He'd been wondering about something for a while now.

“Go ahead.”

“Why didn't you move in after the person who used to live in my room left?”

“Aren't you glad I didn't? You wouldn't have a place to stay otherwise,” Tanaka-san said.

Tobio shrugged. Of course, he was glad to live in Takeda-san's house, but...

“Wouldn't you have liked to live with Ennoshita-san?”

“Haa... It's not that easy.” Tanaka-san leaned on the counter next to the cash register. “I'm living with my grandma. She needs a lot of help around the house. My parents are too busy with their jobs and my sister goes to uni in another town, so I'm the one taking care of her.”

“Oh.” Somehow that didn't fit the rowdy image Tanaka-san projected to the world. All that posturing and bragging, but then he was caring for his old grandmother when nobody was looking. Well, Tobio had also been surprised to learn that Tanaka-san was bi. Clearly, there was more to him behind the mask he liked to put on. “Does your grandmother know about Ennoshita-san?”

A grin flashed across Tanaka-san's face. “Last winter my grandma and I caught a really bad cold at the same time, so Ennoshita came around to look after us. She's been treating him like her own grandson ever since.”

“That's nice,” Tobio said just as a group of high school kids entered the shop, effectively ending the conversation.

 

~~~

 

Two months after arriving in Sendai, Tobio had finally managed to buy his own furniture, and while his room was still kinda bare, it was starting to feel like home.

He'd learnt a lot about cooking from Michimiya-san and Ennoshita-san; he and Hinata even managed to put together a full meal for a Friday-night dinner with all of their housemates. Obviously, there was a lot of bickering involved, there always was when Tobio and Hinata were in the same room, but the food turned out quite good. It was evenings like this that made Tobio feel like he'd made the right decision when he'd left his parents' house. The atmosphere was warm and welcoming, and for the first time in his life, Tobio felt like he belonged, like he was an accepted part of a group and not someone who the others allowed to tag along because he was useful.

Part of it was probably Hinata's reaction to Tobio telling him about the incident at the Spring-High tournament. Hinata had been genuinely upset for him, and while they still had a habit of getting on each other's nerves, the jabs and insults had become less vicious. It was nice, and Tobio hoped that it would stay that way for a long time.

But as happy as he was with his new situation, in the back of his mind, Tobio was always scared that he might be abandoned again. Right now, he was useful to Hinata – no one else was willing to go along with his excessive need for exercise – but that could change at any time. Maybe one of Hinata's new classmates at the vocational school was also a setter, and maybe that person was less prickly and easier to work with. Or one day, Tobio might push Hinata too far, and he'd have another Kindaichi situation on his hands. It was easy to ignore these thoughts while he was practising with Hinata. But at night, especially after particularly long training sessions, when Tobio was alone in bed and staring up at the ceiling, he was haunted by them until he fell asleep.

 

****

 

Being the owner of a small business, Keishin didn't have a lot of days off. When he wasn't working in the shop itself, he was usually doing accounting and other administrative work. But today the shop was closed and he'd miraculously managed to finish crunching numbers the day before, so he spent most of the morning in bed with Ittetsu until Keishin's boyfriend complained that he needed to work on his lesson plans for the next week. They had a late breakfast together before Ittetsu went back upstairs to their room to get some work done. Keishin decided to settle down in the living room to read some manga, but when he entered, he saw Shimizu and Michimiya standing at the window looking out into the backyard.

“What's going on out there?” he asked, wrinkling his brow.

“Hinata-kun and Kageyama-kun are practising again,” Shimizu explained.

Curiously, Keishin joined the women at the window.

Outside, Hinata and Kageyama had set up a bunch of empty water bottles on the other side of the washing line to practise the accuracy of Hinata's spikes. It was fascinating to watch their drill. Keishin already knew that Hinata was full of potential, but he'd never been able to draw it out of him the way Kageyama was doing then and there. His tosses were the optimal height and speed, making perfect use of Hinata's abilities as the middle blocker spiked and spiked, aiming for one water bottle after another. Now and then they would stop their routine, Kageyama giving instructions to Hinata with a stern look on his face. Hinata nodded, ducking under one of the shirts they had hung up on the line to simulate a net to go and fetch the volleyball. Kageyama's facial expression softened, giving way to a rare natural smile as soon as Hinata had his back turned to him.

Well, calling it a smile was maybe a bit of a stretch. It was just a gentle twitch at the corner of Kageyama's mouth, and Keishin probably wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't spent so much time trying to find a way to make his newest shop assistant smile properly at their customers. But it was there and directed at a person Keishin had thought Kageyama would never get along with.

Michimiya giggled, wrapping an arm around her girlfriend's waist.

“Those two would be great together, don't you think?”

Shimizu nodded, leaning into Michimiya's touch. “At the very least, they make good friends.”

Keishin sighed and turned away from the window to sit down on one of the couches. Michimiya and Shimizu were right – there was no denying that Kageyama and Hinata were good for each other – but he was sceptical if the idiots would be able to figure that out for themselves.

 


	9. Observation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a tricky one to get right and I ended up having to make it longer than I first intended, but it turned out well enough^^

Hinata wore his heart on his sleeve and yet, he was a mystery to Tobio. Just because it was easy to figure out when Hinata was happy or frustrated, didn't mean that Tobio understood _why_ his friend felt the emotions he did. One time, Tobio could've sworn that Hinata was angry at a bad toss Tobio had sent his way. It was entirely Tobio's fault, he'd put too much force behind it, making it too fast for Hinata to reach. Hinata tried anyway and ended up jumping into the t-shirts hanging from the washing line. But instead of placing the blame on Tobio like he should have, Hinata grumbled about how _he himself_ had been too slow. It didn't really make sense to Tobio, so he apologised anyway. Hinata laughed and just asked to try again.

“I think I can actually spike it if I know that it'll be that fast,” he said, throwing the ball so Tobio could set it. And as soon as the ball was in the air, Hinata ran full-speed towards the net. He jumped at the exact moment the ball hit Tobio's fingers. Tobio had honestly doubted that Hinata would make it, that he could be this fast, but here he was, basically forcing Tobio to send the ball flying with all his strength. And then with a _smack_ , the ball landed on the other side of their improvised net.

“Holy fuck.”

“Wow!”

Tobio's head whipped around. He hadn't realised that they had an audience, so he was surprised to see Ukai-san and Takeda-san watching them from the veranda.

“You sure you don't wanna join our team?” Ukai-san asked. “I'd never be able to toss _that_ accurately.”

Tobio didn't know how to reply. He liked practising with Hinata and getting to play with him on an actual court would've been amazing, but...

“Don't push him, Ukai-san!” Hinata said, putting a hand on Tobio's back. “He'll join when he's ready. Right?”

“Er...” The combination of physical contact and seeing Hinata's smiling up at him almost caused Tobio's brain to short-circuit. How could someone so annoying be so handsome? Was that even allowed? “M-maybe.”

As Hinata's smile morphed into a full-blown grin, Tobio had to tear his eyes away from him. This was too much.

“Well, we just came to remind you that we'll be having a garden party with the neighbourhood association next weekend, so you need to take down the t-shirts by then,” Takeda-san said.

“No worries, we'll remember!” Hinata said.

“C'mon, let's get back to practice,” Tobio muttered, going to fetch the ball from the other side of the backyard. His back was warm and tingly where Hinata had rested his palm, and Tobio wasn't sure whether he liked that sensation or not.

 

~~~

 

Physical contact, it turned out, was something Tobio apparently had to get used to now. And not just from Hinata who would sometimes just sneak up on Tobio for surprise hugs, but also from all his other housemates – from encouraging pats on the back to people randomly leaning against his side when they were watching TV together, there was a lot of touching going on. But Tobio was slowly starting to realise that there was a huge difference between Ennoshita-san putting a hand on his shoulder and Hinata hanging on his arm as he dragged Tobio outside for practice. Hinata's touches lingered in a way that was hard to ignore, they made him feel warm and sweaty as if he'd been running, and when combined with Hinata's thousand-watt smile, they could make him lose his train of thought in an instant.

And yet, no matter how much being touched by Hinata could throw Tobio off, he couldn't say that he hated it. It didn't really make sense, but a lot of things about Hinata didn't make sense. Or maybe it was Tobio who wasn't making sense. Either way, Tobio spent more time thinking about and observing Hinata than was strictly necessary.

 

~~~

 

“Penny for your thoughts?” Shimizu-san asked Tobio on a sunny afternoon at the beginning of June. The garden party was in full swing, and Tobio was a little overwhelmed with all these strangers trying to strike up a conversation with him. He'd been fine as long as he'd stuck with Hinata who was enthusiastic enough to do the talking for them both, but during the course of the afternoon, they'd been separated.

Now Tobio was sitting on the veranda, watching Hinata talk to Tanaka-san's grandma.

“Not thinking about anything, really,” Tobio sighed, turning his head to look at Shimizu-san who had sat down beside him.

“Gatherings like this don't happen very often,” she said, leaning back on her hands. “It's exhausting, but having a good relationship with your neighbours can be useful.”

Tobio hummed in agreement. Earlier, he'd overheard a conversation between Takeda-san and an electrician who lived a block further down the road about how much it would costs to replace the wiring for in the entire house. This was an important opportunity for everyone in the neighbourhood to deepen their relationship with one another, but that didn't make Tobio feel less out of his element.

“I'm not good at talking to people,” he finally said, turning his eyes back to the crowd. Immediately, he noticed Hinata again. It wasn't just that his red mop of hair stood out, it was also the way he gesticulated and laughed that drew Tobio's attention.

“Me neither,” Shimizu-san admitted. “At least not in situations like this.”

“This isn't something that gets better with time, is it?”

“Not in my experience.” Shimizu-san sighed.

They sat in silence for a while, watching the chaos in their backyard. Hinata had picked up one of the smaller kids and was spinning her around, making her giggle with delight. The same kid had hidden behind her mother's skirt when Tobio had offered her one of the ice pops he and Ukai-san had been handing out earlier.

“Hinata-kun is good with kids,” Shimizu-san mused.

“He's good with all people,” Tobio corrected her.

Shimizu-san chuckled. “Gloomy shop assistants included?”

Frowning, Tobio turned to look at her again. “What?” Who was she even talking about?

She shook her head, smiling kindly. “Nothing. We should probably join back in. It looks like Ukai-san and Shimada-san are trying to get a bonfire going.”

 

~~~

 

After the rather hectic garden party, Tobio was glad to go back to his routine. He was a lot more comfortable interacting with his friends when he wasn't under the scrutiny of way too many strangers. And his friends seemed a lot more comfortable, too. He'd been so stressed out at the party that he didn't notice, but in hindsight, it was obvious that they had put on masks for the guests. It seemed to be common knowledge that most of the tenants in Takeda-san's house were bi at the very least, and yet Tobio's housemates had made sure to turn the public displays of affection down to an absolute minimum.

When Tobio asked Tanaka-san about it during their lunch break, he was met with a deep sigh.

“It's not that easy being out and proud,” Tanaka-san explained, crumpling a melon-bread wrapper between his fingers. “I'm not ashamed of Ennoshita. He's brilliant, and I love him. But I'm not going to rub it in straight people's faces. They don't react well, you know?”

Instinctively, Tobio touched his right shoulder. He knew.

“My teammates freaked out when they found out about me.”

“Yeah. That's bullshit.” Tanaka-san shook his head. “It happens to most of us at some point. Sometimes things get violent. Sometimes you get lucky and manage to walk away before things escalate. But honestly? I'd rather be with someone I love than forcing myself to ignore these feelings.”

“I wish I knew how feelings even worked,” Tobio muttered, more to himself than as a response to Tanaka-san, but Tanaka-san heard and doubled over with laughter.

“Oh my god, that's just... precious,” he wheezed, patting Tobio's left shoulder. “Someday you'll find someone who you just can't stop thinking about and who makes you happy. And you'll want them to be happy, too, and you'll want to spend as much time with them as possible. That's how love seems to start most of the time.”

That was how it had been with Kindaichi at first when they'd just started playing volleyball together. It hadn't stayed that way, though. Eventually, happiness had morphed into pain when the only facial expression Kindaichi ever showed around Tobio had become a sneer.

And then, suddenly, Hinata's smile popped up in Tobio's mind. When it started morphing into a displeased frown, Tobio got up from where he was sitting and shook his head.

“I need to get back to work,” he announced, stiffly walking back into the store. Hinata was just his best friend. There was _no way_ Tobio could have a crush on an idiot like that.

 

~~~

 

Tobio forced himself not to think about Hinata for the next couple of days, which was quite the challenge, considering that they still spent most evenings playing volleyball together.

“You need to throw the ball higher,” Tobio corrected him, “otherwise you don't have enough time for the run-up.”

Today, they were practising jump serves, something Hinata had been begging Tobio to show him for weeks. As usual, Hinata's first efforts had been abysmally bad, but Tobio didn't worry about that too much. Hinata would pick up on the finer points of the technique eventually. He always did. Tobio only started to worry when Hinata repeated the same mistake five times in a row.

“What the fuck are you doing? I told you to throw higher,” Tobio growled, picking up the ball to demonstrate again. “More like this!”

Hinata followed him with his eyes, but Tobio could tell that he wasn't watching properly by the spaced-out look on Hinata's face. Three years ago, Tobio would've snapped and yelled. But he knew better now.

“Let's stop for today. You're clearly out of it.”

“I'm sorry,” Hinata sighed, rubbing his palms over his face.

If that night had been a one-off event, Tobio wouldn't have worried, but their next practice was only marginally better. It clearly took a lot of effort for Hinata to concentrate, and he started to make mistakes he hadn't made in weeks. Something was wrong, and Tobio had no idea what it was and how to bring it up.

Finally, the situation escalated on a Tuesday evening.

“Kageyama?” Hinata asked, pushing around the rice in his bowl. “Can we maybe skip practice today?”

Two things about this situation didn't make any sense at all. Firstly, Hinata wasn't eating properly. The same Hinata that could inhale an entire bowl of rice in five minutes had barely eaten half of it. But more importantly, Hinata was not one to turn down an opportunity to play or watch volleyball.

“Why?” Tobio blurted out.

“I'm just not feeling it today.” Hinata shrugged, getting up to put his leftovers in the fridge. Tobio watched him with wide eyes, unable to think of anything to say in response.

 

~~~

 

Michimiya-san was resting her head in Shimizu-san's lap, smiling gently as her girlfriend carded her fingers through her hair. They were the picture of contentment, watching TV on a warm weekday afternoon, and Tobio hated to intrude on them, but he also really needed to ask someone for advice while Hinata wasn't around.

He made sure to clear his throat to announce his presence before he entered the living room, making them turn their heads towards him.

“What's up, Kageyama-kun?” Michimiya-san asked, abandoning her place in Shimizu-san's lap to sit up properly.

“Erm, I... Can I ask you guys a question?”

“Of course,” Shimizu-san said, patting the space on the other side of the couch to indicate that Tobio should sit down, too.

“It's about Hinata,” he started as he joined them. “He's been... off.” He launched into a more detailed explanation of how Hinata had been spacing out during practice and had even turned Tobio down.

“Hinata-kun _never_ turns down an opportunity to play volleyball,” Shimizu-san agreed.

“Do you think... do you think it's because of me?” Tobio asked, fiddling with the hem of his shorts. “Maybe I pushed him too hard during practice...”

“Pff, as if,” Michimiya-san snorted. “If anything, he's been pushing _you_ too hard.”

Shimizu-san nodded. “I agree. He'd tell you if he was dissatisfied with practice.”

That was a relief to hear, but if he wasn't the problem, what was?

“Do you guys know if there's something else that could have upset him?”

“You should just ask him,” Michimiya-san suggested with a shrug. “You guys are close, right? I'm sure he'll tell you if you ask.”

“I'm not good at talking to people,” Tobio echoed what he'd told Shimizu-san at the gathering with the neighbourhood association.

In response, Shimizu-san put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “You're talking to us right now, aren't you?”

Tobio wanted to protest and say that this was something different, but then he realised that he couldn't explain _why_ it was different. It just was. And so the only sound that left his mouth was a frustrated groan.

“How about this?” Michimiya-san chimed in. “Tonight, when Hinata comes back from school, you make dinner for the two of you. It's a lot easier to start a conversation over dinner, and even if you end up chickening out, you'll at least have done something nice for him.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the burn intensifies


	10. Homesick

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is rather short and has got _a lot_ of dialogue, but it also has Hinata's backstory and cute UkaTake interactions, so I hope that makes up for that lol

A pot of curry was bubbling away on the stove, the rice would be done in about five minutes and the table was set, but Tobio didn't feel ready in the slightest. Hinata had been there for him when Tobio needed someone to talk to. Tobio was just going to return the favour. And yet there was a nagging voice in the back of Tobio's head that Hinata might not want to talk to Tobio because everything was his fault.

He was checking one last time if the curry was seasoned right when he heard someone unlock the front door.

“I'm home,” Hinata declared loudly as Tobio stuck his head through the kitchen door.

“Welcome back,” Tobio said. “I made curry. Want some?”

Hinata sniffed the air, his facial expression brightening immediately.

“Sounds good to me.”

As Tobio portioned out rice and curry for the two of them, Hinata sat down at the kitchen table.

“You already prepared two bowls?”

Tobio almost dropped the ladle back into the curry.

“Erm, I mean, you usually come back at this time so I thought I might as well cook for both of us,” he mumbled. He was glad that his back was turned to Hinata because his face felt way too hot.

“Didn't know you had it in you to be thoughtful,” Hinata teased, immediately shifting Tobio's mood from embarrassed to exasperated.

“If you don't want the curry, I can...” Tobio didn't even have to finish his threat for Hinata to beg for forgiveness. Tobio couldn't deny the swell of affection in his chest when he handed Hinata his bowl and was rewarded with a bright smile.

As they ate, Hinata was his usual chipper self, babbling away about his day at school while Tobio listened. It was like the last couple of days hadn't happened at all.

“Are you feeling better today?” Tobio asked, thoughtlessly shattering the comfortable atmosphere. Hinata's hand stopped in mid-air, spoon halfway to his mouth.

“Wh-what do you mean?”

“You haven't been eating well, and you didn't wanna play volleyball, so I thought...” Tobio trailed off awkwardly and shrugged. “It was unusual.”

Hinata lowered his spoon and sighed. “So you noticed.”

Tobio shrugged again, not wanting to explain how he'd been spending way too much time analysing Hinata's every move even outside of volleyball practice.

“It's not that big of a deal,” Hinata said, leaning back in his chair.

“Is it because of me?” Tobio blurted out what he'd been worrying about all day. “I didn't... I wasn't too harsh on you, was I?”

A sad smile tugged at the corners of Hinata's lips.

“Nah. You can be a bit of an arse sometimes, but it's nothing I can't handle.”

Tobio couldn't help the grimace, but he didn't want to start a fight.

“What's the problem? I can listen if you want,” he offered instead. “You listened to me, too.”

“My problems are tiny compared to what you went through,” Hinata hedged, but Tobio was having none of it.

“So what? You're my friend. I want to help.”

“Fine, we'll talk after dinner,” Hinata relented.

 

~~~

 

Hinata kept fidgeting with the hem of his shirt as they sat down in the privacy of his room.

“It's really not that important,” he insisted for the nth time, but Tobio still wasn't inclined to believe him. Crossing his arms in front of his chest, Tobio sat down on Hinata's chair like last time.

“It's important. It makes you not want to practise volleyball,” Tobio said matter-of-factly.

“It's kinda... silly and childish, though,” Hinata mumbled, grabbing his pillow and hugging it close. Tobio raised an eyebrow.

“When aren't you silly and childish?”

“Oh, shut it,” Hinata grumbled. “Fine. It's my birthday on Thursday next week, and it'll be the first time my family won't be around for it.”

“Can't you just... invite them over in the evening or something?” Tobio asked, not really seeing the problem.

“It's not that easy,” Hinata sighed, curling around his pillow. “They moved to Osaka one month before I graduated high school because my dad was transferred to the branch office there.”

“Oh. That's... far,” Tobio said lamely. “Why didn't you move with them?”

“Because I was already accepted at vocational school here,” Hinata explained. “It was all very sudden, and it was too late to take entrance exams for a school in Osaka. I was lucky that Ukai-san wasn't really using this room anymore since he'd started dating Takeda-san, so he left it to me and moved all his stuff to Takeda-san's room.” Hinata grimaced. “I'm really glad that I have you guys, but I still miss my family. Natsu's on her new school's volleyball team now, and I wish I could watch her play, and Dad used to let me help whenever he had to tinker with his old motorcycle, and Mum always made chocolate cake for my birthday...” He trailed off, shrugging helplessly. “I wish they could be there.”

Tobio couldn't really relate. He didn't have siblings, and he'd never been particularly close with his parents even before everything went to shit. But even if he couldn't quite understand why Hinata was so attached to his family, didn't mean that Tobio couldn't see how hard this situation was on his friend. He didn't know how to express that sentiment in words, though, so he decided to take action instead.

 

***

 

The blistering summer heat combined with the familiar taste of melon and cigarettes on his tongue always reminded Keishin of the summer day when he'd first met Ittetsu. Keishin's grandma had brought chilled watermelon slices as a snack for him during his lunch break, and he'd sat outside the shop and eaten them while smoking. And then Takeda Ittetsu had walked up to the shop, carrying a small stack of posters.

“Excuse me,” he'd said, smiling timidly. “You work at the shop, right?”

“You could say that,” Keishin had replied, not in the mood to explain that he'd recently taken over from his grandparents. 

“Would it be alright if I hung up one of these in the shop? I recently inherited my uncle's old house and I'm looking for tenants...”

Keishin had recognised the address on the poster as a nearby house he passed on his long way to work. Combined with the fact that the advertised rent was cheaper than at his current place, Keishin had made an immediate decision.

“Only if you let me rent one of those rooms.”

Now, he was sitting in the backyard of said house with his boyfriend leaning against his shoulder as they shared a plate of watermelon slices. Falling in love had been an unexpected but welcome turn of events, but even more unexpected was that the two of them had eventually ended up virtually adopting a group of young adults that kept seeking out their advice.

“...so I thought we could maybe throw a birthday party for him.” Kageyama was staring down at his feet, obviously embarrassed about something, though Keishin had absolutely no idea what was embarrassing about wanting to plan a birthday party for their housemate. Maybe it had to do with Kageyama's rather obvious crush on Hinata. 

“That's a good idea,” Ittetsu responded. “I could also call his parents and see if we can get them to at least be there on Skype.”

“I'll organise drinks and snacks,” Keishin offered.

“Hinata mentioned that his mum always used to make chocolate cake on his birthday. Do you know where I can buy one?” Kageyama asked.

“I can ask Hinata-kun's mother for the recipe,” Ittetsu said.

“You can't bake, neither can I,” Keishin reminded his boyfriend, “and I doubt Kageyama's much of a baker.”

“We can ask Michimiya,” Ittetsu suggested.

“I'll ask her. Thank you very much for helping me with this.” Kageyama bowed and went back inside, probably to find the rest of their housemates. Keishin sighed and lit up another cigarette, blowing the smoke away from Ittetsu.

“He's become quite fond of Hinata-kun, hasn't he?” Ittetsu said wistfully. 

“Fond is an understatement,” Keishin corrected him. “He's head over heels for Hinata.”

Ittetsu hummed, lacing his fingers with Keishin's.

“Is Hinata-kun even interested in men?”

Keishin shrugged. “Hard to tell. Especially with how flustered he gets around Shimizu sometimes. But even if he's not, I think he'll find a way to let Kageyama down gently. He's not the type to be callous.”

“True.” Ittetsu let out a long sigh. “I'm glad that we're way past that stage.”

Keishing chuckled, gently squeezing his boyfriend's hand.

 


	11. Suprises

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :3c

Everyone had agreed that the birthday party should be a surprise for Hinata, which required a lot of sneaking around. All discussions and planning had been moved to a group chat, just in case Hinata would get suspicious, and Hinata's parents had been instructed not to tell him about it either. When Takeda-san had called them, they'd immediately agreed to be there on Skype, and Hinata's mother had given them her recipe for chocolate cake.

Despite being the one to suggest the party, Tobio felt quite useless most of the time. Ennoshita-san was going to make the food, Michimiya-san was in charge of the cake, Takeda-san and Shimizu-san were going to do decorate and Ukai-san had already stocked up on snacks and drinks for the party.

 

To: Ukai, Takeda, Shimizu, Michimiya, Ennoshita

> Is there anything I can help with?

 

From: Ennoshita

> Maybe you could ask him if he wants to practise with you

> Just to make sure that he'll come straight home after school

 

~~~

 

“Damn, that's another draw,” Hinata gasped as they came back from their morning run.

“I'll beat you next time,” Tobio promised, kicking off his running shoes before going inside.

“We'll see,” Hinata laughed and followed Tobio into the kitchen.

As they gulped down some water in silence, Tobio tried to think of a way to ask Hinata if he wanted to play volleyball on his birthday. They hadn't been practising since Hinata had opened up to Tobio about missing his family, and Tobio wasn't particularly comfortable with lying.

“We haven't played volleyball lately,” Tobio said.

“Hmm, you're right.” Hinata sighed. “We should get back into it. When's a good time for you?”

“How about Thursday? I know it's your birthday and all, but...”

“Nah, that's fine. I don't have plans anyway,” Hinata agreed, smiling brightly and suspecting nothing. “Might as well spend the evening of my birthday doing something I enjoy, right?”

Tobio nodded, hoping that Hinata wouldn't be cross with him once the cat was out of the bag.

 

***

 

Everything was ready for the party. The table was set, the decorations were up, and the Skype call with Hinata's family was going. Now the only thing that was missing was the presence of the birthday boy himself.

“I hope I didn't mess up your recipe, Hinata-san,” Michimiya said as she stuck the candles on the cake.

“I'm sure you did a good job,” Hinata's mother said, voice a little distorted by the mic.

“It looks very tasty,” Ittetsu assured the younger woman. “I just hope Hinata-kun will come back before dinner gets cold.”

“He wrote that he's on his way,” Kageyama-kun said, holding up his phone. He'd been holding on to it ever since he, Keishin and Tanaka-kun had returned from the shop early, and he kept looking down at it, probably to check if Hinata-kun had sent him another text.

Ever since Keishin had pointed Kageyama-kun's crush out to Ittetsu, it had become hard not to notice it. Ittetsu had always had a habit of focusing too much on the things people said, trying to interpret language rather than actions so that he'd completely missed the non-verbal signals Kageyama-kun was sending until they'd been pointed out to him. There was the way Kageyama-kun would stare holes in the back of Hinata-kun's head at times, his facial expression alternating between an annoyed scowl and an affectionate smile, or how he'd immediately perk up once Hinata-kun entered a room.

It happened again when Tanaka-kun shushed them because he'd heard a key being turned in the lock. Kageyama-kun immediately responded by sitting up properly and straightening his back, facial expression expectant as they all waited for Hinata-kun to come in.

“I'm home!” he announces loudly.

Ennoshita-kun immediately nudged Kageyama-kun in the ribs, indicating that he should be the one to respond.

“Welcome back!” Kageyama-kun yelled. “We– I'm in the kitchen!”

Behind him, Ittetsu could hear Keishin snort quietly at how Kageyama-kun almost misspoke.

“It smells good, did you cook aga–” Hinata-kun stopped short in the doorway as he realised that all of his housemates were waiting for him under a banner that Shimizu-san had prepared.

“Happy Birthday Hinata!”

“Happy birthday, Nii-san!” Natsu-chan yelled into the microphone of her parents' laptop, making her brother turn his head and notice Ittetsu's laptop standing on the countertop.

“Guys...”

As Hinata-kun went around the room, hugging everyone in turn before stopping in front of the laptop to talk with his parents and sister, Ittetsu stole a glance at Kageyama-kun who watched the whole thing with a satisfied smile on his face.

“This was an excellent idea, Kageyama-kun,” Ittetsu whispered conspiratorially, making the young man jump in surprise.

“I guess...” Kageyama-kun mumbled, cheeks flushing pink as he turned his gaze to the floor.

A wave of fondness rushed over Ittetsu. Kageyama-kun had come a long way since he'd moved in. He was well on his way to becoming a well-rounded adult, and while he would probably never fully shake off the awkwardness he displayed in social situations, he'd improved a lot. It was fascinating to see what a supportive group of friends could do to an angry, closed-off teenager.

 

***

 

The party was even louder than their usual Friday-night dinners, mostly because Hinata was super hyped about the surprise. When he realised that Michimiya-san had used his mother's recipe for the cake, he made the weirdest noise Tobio had ever heard from a human being. It was nice, though, seeing Hinata so happy and excited, especially after how down he'd been in the days leading up to his birthday. His smile was infectious, and more than once Tobio was struck by the sudden urge to ruffle his hair or touch his arm, to seek out physical contact that Tobio had never initiated before in his entire life. But he kept his hands to himself, shoving them into the pockets of his shorts.

What was it about Hinata that made Tobio feel so strange? At first, he'd just been some annoying guy, but now Tobio felt slightly exasperated at Hinata' antics at most. The guy had forcibly broken down all of Tobio's walls until he'd reached Tobio's core and filled up his every waking thought.

As the party wound down, and everyone went off to their own rooms (or their boyfriend's room in Tanaka-san's case), Tobio offered to stay back and clean up. He just had to put the dirty dishes in the washer, collect all the empty snack wrappers and wipe down the table. It wasn't much, but he felt like he needed to make up for not being of much help with preparations.

Tobio had just rinsed the rag he'd used on the table when he heard someone clear their throat.

“Kageyama?” Hinata said carefully.

“Something wrong?” Tobio asked, drying his hands on a kitchen towel.

“No.” Hinata shook his head for emphasis as he walked up to Tobio. Hinata was already in his baggy shirt and shorts that he always wore to bed, and the hint of collarbone that peeked through the too-wide neckline was awfully distracting. “I just wanted to say thank you. Takeda-san said you were the one who brought up the idea of a party, and... I mean... Thanks?”

And suddenly, Hinata was on his tiptoes, pressing a kiss against Tobio's cheek that sent Tobio's head spinning. Hinata's lips were so soft and a little moist, and then they were gone, and Hinata was basically sprinting out of the kitchen before Tobio could wrap his head around what had happened to him. He just stood there, oddly transfixed by the tingling sensation Hinata's lips had left behind on his skin. Tobio touched the spot with his fingers, almost expecting to feel an indentation or some other proof that Hinata had kissed him, but there was none.

Tobio slumped against the kitchen counter with a groan as the feelings he'd been trying to ignore for weeks came rushing in, making his knees weak and his stomach queasy. He had a crush on Hinata, and it was worse than his crush on Kindaichi had ever been. But maybe it wasn't completely hopeless. Maybe this kiss on the cheek meant something. Maybe Tobio's feelings weren't one-sided.

Or were they?

 

~~~

 

“What's bugging you?” Tanaka-san asked during lunch break. “You've been completely out of it all morning.”

“What does it mean when a friend kisses you on the cheek?”

Tobio had turned the question over in his head again and again last night, unable to come up with a satisfying answer. If he'd known for sure that Hinata was bi or gay, that would've been one thing. But Tobio didn't. Just because Hinata felt comfortable living in a house full of gay couples didn't mean he would like being in a relationship with another guy. Tobio had never bothered asking. It wasn't even any of his business, was it? And even if Hinata was into dudes that didn't necessarily mean that the kiss _meant anything_.

“Whoa. Who kissed you?” Tanaka-san asked, eyes wide with surprise.

“Hinata,” Tobio whined and explained what had happened after the party. Tanaka-san listened attentively and whistled through his teeth once Tobio finished.

“Honestly? I think he's into you,” Tanaka-san said. “Boy never shuts up about how amazing it would be if you ever decided to join the neighbourhood team.”

“He... talks about me?” Tobio asked incredulously. The mere thought was enough to cause butterflies in his stomach.

“All the freaking time,” Tanaka-san confirmed.

“But that's simply him being a volleyball nerd, isn't it?” Tobio was still sceptical. There weren't a lot of reasons for anyone to like him.

“Eh.” Tanaka-san shrugged. “You should just ask him out on a date.”

Tobio could feel his face turning bright red. “Who said that _I_ want to date him?”

At that, Tanaka-san burst out laughing.

“Oh my god, you've got to be kidding me,” he wheezed. “Trust me, Kageyama. Everyone knows that you have a crush on Hinata.”

Tobio wanted to vanish on the spot. Groaning, he hid his face behind his hands. Was it really that obvious?

“Hey, it's okay,” Tanaka-san said, patting Tobio's shoulder. “We're literally the last people who'll judge you for this.”

“I know,” Tobio sighed, looking down at the rest of his meat bun. He didn't have much of an appetite anymore, but he knew he'd regret not finishing it once he had to go back to work, so he took another bite. Working with an empty stomach was the worst.

“Honestly, though, what's the worst thing that could happen if you ask Hinata out on a date?” Tanaka-san asked.

“We might not be able to be friends anymore.”

Old teammates turning their backs on him, new ones refusing to even let him join the team properly, and his parents' failure to accept his sexuality – again and again, Tobio had been rejected and pushed away, and now that he'd finally found a proper group of friends, he was scared to lose even a single one of them.

“That's not going to happen,” Tanaka-san said firmly. “Even if I'm wrong, and Hinata ends up rejecting you, he won't stop being your friend.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because he cares about you enough to kiss you on the cheek.”

 


	12. Confession

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have some KageHina being awkward dorks.

Courage was a strange thing. Tobio had never felt scared of going out on a court to face a team that was supposedly much stronger than his own. He had seen it as a challenge, had been confident in his ability to counter his opponents' moves and had chases every ball, no matter how unlikely it was that he would reach it. But unlocking the front door on the evening after Hinata's birthday, Tobio's hands were cold and shaky despite the warm summer sun shining down on him.

No matter how much Tanaka-san insisted that asking Hinata out was the best course of action, Tobio was still doubtful. Hinata wanting to be his friend was one thing, but Tobio wasn't boyfriend material. He wasn't particularly friendly or sociable or intelligent. He was hotheaded and stubborn with a competitive streak that was only rivalled by Hinata's. None of the couples in their group of friends spent as much time bickering and competing as Tobio and Hinata did. 

The closest Tobio had ever seen any of the others come to a fight was when Ennoshita-san would bust out a savage one-liner to shut up Tanaka-san's bragging. But even then, those occasions were usually resolved by Tanaka-san pouting for a bit until Ennoshita-san gave him a kiss. Tobio would've never admitted it out loud, but he longed for a relationship like that. A relationship filled with so much trust and love that it didn't matter if they disagreed sometimes.

Tobio took off his shoes and immediately went to the kitchen to warm up some leftovers for dinner. Ennoshita-san was already sitting at the table, eating pudding while messing around on his phone. They exchanged a quick greeting before Tobio opened the fridge to see if there was still leftover fried rice from yesterday's party.

“Hey, Kageyama-kun,” Ennoshita-san said, barely looking up from this phone.

“Hm?”

“Tanaka says you need some encouragement to ask out Hinata.”

Tobio slammed the fridge shut and dumped the contents of the plastic container into a bowl so he could put it in the microwave. Why did Ennoshita-san have to start with this topic as well?

“What did Tanaka-san tell you?”

“Nothing much. He wrote that I should tell you to 'stop being a chicken and ask Hinata out',” Ennoshita-san quoted his boyfriend's text.

“He's probably straight, and then things will be awkward,” Tobio countered, setting the microwave to one and a half minutes.

“I thought Tanaka was straight, and then he turned out to be exceedingly bisexual,” Ennoshita-san shot back. “Do you want me to ask Hinata if he likes men?”

It was a tempting offer. If Ennoshita-san asked, at least Tobio would know whether his crush was entirely fruitless without having to risk revealing it to Hinata. But...

“It's not really any of our business, is it?”

“What isn't our business?” Hinata asked, suddenly entering the kitchen. Tobio almost jumped out of his skin in surprise. He gave Ennoshita-san one of his best death-glares, hoping that it would dissuade him from saying anything to Hinata. But Ennoshita-san was completely immune and simply raised a mocking eyebrow at Tobio before turning around in his chair to face Hinata.

“There are rumours on Twitter about one of the players on the national volleyball team being gay,” Ennoshita-san said to Tobio's surprise. 

“Huh? Really?” Hinata asked just as the microwave went off with a loud _ding_. 

“Yeah. Apparently, someone saw him entering a gay bar in Tokyo.”

Tobio took his food out of the microwave and sat down, taking care not to look at Hinata. How was he even supposed to face him when he had trouble getting over something as small as a peck on the cheek? He was completely hopeless.

“Ugh, why can't people just leave him alone,” Hinata complained, leaning over to look at a tweet Ennoshita-san had pulled up on his phone.

“That's what Kageyama-kun's been saying, too,” Ennoshita-san said. Tobio was tempted to kick his shin under the table but restrained himself and kept on shovelling food into his mouth. He could practically feel Hinata's gaze burning a hole in his forehead.

“I hope his teammates aren't going to react badly,” Hinata said, gently patting Tobio's shoulder as he walked past him on the way to the fridge. Tobio froze in place as he realised that this professional volleyball player might now be in a similar situation as he had been a couple months ago. Well, at least Tobio hadn't had to deal with the media on top of becoming the talk of the school.

“It sucks when they do,” Tobio said because he didn't know what else to say.

“Sometimes I wonder if I should tell my teammates that I'm pansexual,” Hinata said. “It's not like they mind with Tanaka-san and Ukai-san. But having to explain what pansexuality even is sucks.”

Ennoshita-san was giving Tobio a huge grin and thumbs up behind Hinata's back, but Tobio didn't quite understand _why_. What _did_ pansexual mean? 

“You don't have to come out and explain yourself to anyone if you don't want to,” Ennoshita-san said to Hinata who had poured himself a glass of cold barley tea.

“True.” Hinata took a sip and sighed with satisfaction. “Well...I gotta go back to my homework now.”

“Good luck,” Ennoshita-san said.

“Thanks.”

And with that Hinata left the room.

“What _is_ pansexuality?” Tobio asked as soon as he heard the door of Hinata's room snap shut, so Hinata wouldn't hear his stupid question.

“It means Hinata is attracted to people regardless of gender,” Ennoshita-san explained, the grin returning to his face. “It means you should finish your food and then go to his room and tell him you want to date him.”

Tobio groaned and hung his head. He was happy and nervous at the same time.

“He might still reject me, though,” he mumbled, staring down at his reheated fried rice.

“In the worst case scenario, he rejects you. You'll know and be able to move on. In the best case scenario – he wants to date you,” Ennoshita-san said. “If I were you, I'd take the chance.”

That _was_ a convincing argument. Kind of. Tobio sighed and took another bite of food. If he was going to do this, he couldn't be doing it with an empty stomach.

 

~~~

 

Fist raised in the air, Tobio took a steeling breath before knocking on Hinata's door. He could do this. Everything was going to be fine. Hinata wasn't straight, and he had kissed Tobio just yesterday. There was no way in hell Hinata would react badly to a confession. 

“Come in!” Hinata yelled cheerily, making Tobio's heart leap up into his throat. 

Why did feelings have to be so nerve-wracking?

Tobio pushed open the door. Hinata was sitting at his desk which was strewn with books and loose sheets of paper.

“Hey,” Tobio said lamely, his tongue barely cooperative. 

“What's up? Something bothering you?” Hinata asked, wrinkling his brow in concern.

“Last night you... k... ki–”

Almost instantly, Hinata's cheeks flushed a deep shade of red and waved his hands around desperately. 

“Oh my god, I... That was just... I mean...” Hinata sheepishly scratched the back of his neck.

Well, at least he seemed to know what Tobio was talking about despite Tobio's current inability to form proper sentences, let alone words.

“Do you... Would you like to... a date... with me?” Tobio pressed out, feeling like he was about to throw up any second now. Maybe he shouldn't have done this right after dinner, after all.

“Oh.” Hinata's jaw dropped. “You want to... With me?”

Tobio nodded. This situation really wasn't good for his nerves.

“I... Wow. Yeah. Okay.” Hinata laughed breathlessly. “I didn't think you'd be interested in me but... I'd love to.”

All tension left Tobio's body at once, and he had to steady himself with a hand against the door frame.

“Why wouldn't I... I mean... You are... Great.”

Hinata burst into a fit of laughter. Tobio was too busy dying of embarrassment to be offended. That had been the most awkward word he could've chosen to describe Hinata.

“G-god, you're so cute,” Hinata wheezed and got up from his chair. He was still giggling when he came to stand in front of Tobio. The happiness in those warm brown eyes was almost too much to take at such a short distance, but Tobio couldn't look away. He was utterly transfixed.

“You're great, too,” Hinata said, standing up on the tips of his toes so he could reach Tobio's cheek for a kiss. Once again, it was just a short peck, but it sent a tingling sensation through Tobio's body.

“What did you have in mind for our date?” Hinata asked while Tobio was still processing the feel of Hinata's lips on his skin.

“Erm, we could...” Tobio hadn't really thought this through, so he just blurted out the first idea that came to mind. “You said you need new knee pads, so we could go shopping?”

A grin spread across Hinata's face. “When's your next afternoon off?”

“Monday.”

“I should be done with classes at three, so that works.”

Tobio nodded, pushing himself off of the door frame. His legs were still slightly wobbly, but he was able to stand up straight again. 

“Great. I'll meet you outside of your school?”

“Sounds good to me.”

 

~~~

 

As Tobio brushed his teeth that night, he kept staring at himself in the mirror. He didn't look any different than he had yesterday. He was still himself. He was still awkward and bad with words. But a warmth inside his chest and a prickling sensation on his cheek reminded him that for the first time in his life, his feelings weren't entirely one-sided. Hinata liked him enough to agree to go on a date with him. Hinata had kissed Tobio's cheek. Twice. 

Tobio spat out the toothpaste, rinsed his mouth and wiped his face with a towel. His reflection was grinning like an absolute creep, but he couldn't have cared less. He had a date next Monday. With Hinata. What better reason to smile could there be? Tobio couldn't think of one, and so he went to bed in the best mood he'd had in months.

 


	13. Invincible

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The moment we've all been waiting for has arrived: Kageyama and Hinata go on a date!

Sometimes, Kageyama Tobio was rude, stubborn and just downright infuriating. But at other times, he was awkward, sweet and more adorable than any boy his age had the right to be. From the moment he'd entered Shouyou's room and opened up about his past, Shouyou should have known where this was going. At the very latest, Shouyou should have realised it when Kageyama had confronted him about how out of it Shouyou had been in the days leading up to his birthday, but hindsight is 20/20. Instead, a wave of _feelings_ had crashed into Shouyou when he'd gone to thank Takeda-san for the birthday party and been informed that it had been Kageyama's idea.

Shouyou had needed an outlet for these emotions, and a peck on the cheek, as Shouyou had tried to rationalise, wouldn't be suspicious. He could just play it off as an innocent show of affection between friends. He had even gotten ready to demonstrate this fact on any of his other friends if the need should have arisen. As it turned out, that flimsy defence wasn't even necessary in the slightest.

“What's got you so excited?” Yamaguchi-kun asked as he followed Shouyou out of the classroom after their last lesson of the day.

“I have a date,” Shouyou replied, basically skipping down the corridor to the exit.

“Oh! Are they cute?”

Shouyou snorted with laughter. Yes, Kageyama had a cute side to him, but it was hidden behind layers and layers of pride, anger and egotism. “Cute” wasn't the first word that Shouyou would have chosen to describe him.

“You'll see,” he replied. “They should be waiting for me outside.”

Shouyou hadn't seen Kageyama all that much over the weekend – when Kageyama hadn't been at work, Shouyou had been busy practising with the neighbourhood team. But before Shouyou had left for vocational school on Monday morning, Kageyama had talked to him in the hallway to confirm that he was going to pick Shouyou up at the campus gate.

And there he was, awkwardly leaning against a tree with his arms crossed in front of his chest and scowling like a serial killer.

“See that guy over there? The tall one?”

Yamaguchi-kun nodded, looking quite puzzled.

“That's my date,” Shouyou announced, grinning over both his ears.

“Oh. He looks... nice?” The tone of Yamaguchi-kun's voice was highly sceptical. Understandably so. Shouyou shrugged.

“Well, I'm not gonna let him wait any longer,” he said. “Tell Yacchan I said hi!”

“Will do. Have fun with your prince charming.”

Having said goodbye to his friend, Shouyou sped up his steps and walked up to Kageyama, who still hadn't noticed him.

“Kageyamaaa,” Hinata singsonged, making the taller boy take a step forward.

“H-hi,” Kageyama stuttered, eyes turned towards the ground in front of his feet. Was he blushing? Shouyou wasn't sure, so he moved closer to have a better look at Kageyama's face.

“Wh– Stop that!” Kageyama said, moving backwards and almost colliding with the tree. If he hadn't been blushing earlier, he was now. Shouyou couldn't help the grin. There was something deeply satisfying about seeing Kageyama being flustered.

“Are you ready to go shopping?”

 

***

 

Tobio had absolutely no idea what he was doing. None of the media he had consumed had prepared him for a date with another guy, and he hadn't wanted to ask his housemates for advice again, so he was flying by the seat of his pants. Attempting to hold hands in public was out of the question – _What if Hinata doesn't want to hold hands?_ – even if Tobio was very much tempted to establish physical contact. Instead, he tried to gently bump arms with Hinata as they walked, which quickly devolved into the both of them shoving and elbowing each other in the side until Hinata almost collided with a cyclist.

“Oh my god, that was close,” Hinata chuckled, the smile on his face bright as ever.

“Sorry,” Tobio mumbled.

“Don't worry, I shoved you first.”

And then, without the slightest bit of hesitation, Hinata laced his fingers with Tobio's.

“Is this fine?” Hinata asked, gently squeezing Tobio's hand.

Hinata's palm was sweaty and warm, but it was in Tobio's hand, and that made it more than just _fine_. It was wonderful.

“Y-yes,” Tobio replied.

Hinata's easy affection was overwhelming and calming at the same time. Every small touch, every conspiratorial smile sent Tobio's heart into overdrive. But he was also glad that Hinata was taking the lead. It took off the pressure, made it easier to breathe as they looked at knee pads and volleyball shoes.

“Kageyama, look! They have volleyball charms!” Hinata exclaimed. “Do you want the _Molten_ or the _Mikasa_ one?”

“Er...” Was Hinata suggesting they buy matching charms? “Y-you choose.”

“ _Molten_ it is,” Hinata decided, adding two charms to the basket that already held his new knee pads. Tobio tried to pay for his own charm once they went to the cash register, but Hinata insisted on buying it for him.

“You can buy us drinks in return, okay?” Hinata suggested. So Tobio gave in and bought them sports drinks at a vending machine. They sat on a bench in the sun, occasionally taking a sip as they argued about the pros and cons of different shoe brands.

If Tobio had known that it could be this comfortable and fun to just sit and talk, he wouldn't have been this nervous. But there was a nagging voice at the back of his head, telling him that volleyball talk was not appropriate for a date. And when Tobio noticed a straight couple walk with the guy having his arm wrapped around his girlfriend's shoulder, the voice grew even louder.

“Hey, erm...” Tobio interrupted, fiddling with his empty bottle. “Is this okay? We're... we're supposed to be on a date, but... we're just talking about volleyball like always.”

“So what? I like talking about volleyball with you,” Hinata said, tilting his head and looking at Tobio like he'd just said something stupid.

“But aren't we supposed to... you know... do something more... romantic?” Not that Tobio had any idea what exactly “something more romantic” was supposed to be.

Hinata shrugged. “Trust me, I'm having more fun than the time I went on a date with one of my former classmates, and she dragged me to see this absolutely horrible romance film.” Grinning, Hinata bumped his shoulder against Tobio's arm. “You don't need to worry so much. Romantic can mean whatever we want it to mean.”

 

~~~

 

The rest of the afternoon went by in the blink of an eye. They finished up their shopping trip with dinner at a family restaurant, and on their way back home, they held hands again. Looking down at their intertwined fingers, Tobio's chest felt tight. This was a situation straight out of his dreams.

“Hey, um,” Hinata said as they turned the corner and the shared house came into view, “I really had a lot of fun today.”

Tobio nodded in agreement.

“I... I'd like it if this became... a _thing_ ,” Hinata went on, his ears slowly turning bright red. “You know... us going out.”

Tobio could hear his own heartbeat loud in his ears, and he almost forgot how to breathe.

“Yeah,” was the only thing he managed to say, too overcome with happiness for something more eloquent.

Hinata turned his head to look straight at Tobio, his grin as blinding as the sun.

 

***

 

It took only a handful of days for everyone to catch on to the change in the relationship between Kageyama and Hinata. Keishin was relieved that Hinata hadn't turned Kageyama down. He hadn't been looking forward to having to deal with a heartbroken teen and was grateful for this turn of events. Even if it meant that sometimes Kageyama would space out at work. More than once, Keishin caught Kageyama mopping the exact same spot on the floor for over a minute, staring off into the distance and sighing dreamily. Tanaka thought Kageyama's behaviour was hilarious. Keishin mostly thought it was annoying. But at least Kageyama hadn't reverted back into being withdrawn and unapproachable.

Kageyama showing up to the neighbourhood team's practice was unexpected, though. He'd been very adamant about not wanting to join, and it looked like he still hadn't got any plans to do so, but he did settle down in the stands to watch them.

“It's amazing how you and Sensei ended up with a bunch of gay kids living in your house,” Shimada commented during a drink break.

Keishin shrugged.

“We're not doing it on purpose.”

Takinoue rolled his eyes. “Oh, don't pretend you don't enjoy playing the part of the older brother.”

He wasn't wrong, but there was no way Keishin would admit that out loud, so he just flipped Takinoue off instead.

“Well, Kageyama-kun does look happier than the last time I saw him,” Mori chimed in.

“He looks just as pissed off and annoyed to me, to be honest,” Shimada said.

“That's just his face.” Everyone flinched and turned to look at Hinata who had apparently overheard their conversation. He blew a kiss in Kageyama's direction to which Kageyama reacted with a shy smile. “See? He's happy.”

“Well, you'll have to make sure it stays that way,” Keishin joked. “I do not want to have a moody employee on my hands again.”

Hinata nodded solemnly. “You can count on me.”

 

***

 

Leaning against the wall, Kageyama waited for Shouyou and the others to emerge from the locker room of the community centre. A week after their first date, Shouyou was just as excited about seeing him. Kageyama was still awkward about expressing his affection, but Shouyou could appreciate his attempts nonetheless, especially when Kageyama went out of his way to spend more time with Shouyou.

“Oi, Kageyama!” Tanaka-san yelled once he spotted him outside. “You should join us next time instead of just watching.”

Shouyou had to admit that he would've loved to have Kageyama on their team, not just because he wanted to play volleyball with his boyfriend, but also because Kageyama was an incredibly talented setter. But Shouyou knew it was too early.

“Let him be,” Shouyou said, taking Kageyama's hand. “It's not like we're lacking a setter right now.”

“Ukai needs to watch out, though,” Shimada-san teased. “Once Kageyama joins, he might just become obsolete.”

“Oh shut it,” Ukai-san retorted, lighting up a cigarette. “Once Kinoshita recovers from his sprained ankle, it'll be you who has to be careful.”

Kageyama gently squeezed Shouyou's hand, making Shouyou look up at him.

“Thanks,” Kageyama mouthed silently as the team changed topics.

“Anytime,” Shouyou whispered back.

 

***

 

Tobio didn't know why he was still so freaked out about the thought of joining another team. He'd just seen how everyone reacted to him being with Hinata, and he'd already learnt to keep his head down, lest he alienate everyone with his perfectionism. But as scared as he was, deep down he longed to go back to the sport. He didn't even want to replace Ukai-san as the starting setter. He would be fine with just being there for practice and occasionally being swapped in so Ukai-san could rest.

Tobio told Hinata as much on their way home.

“Like I said, there's no rush,” Hinata said, swinging their arms between them as they walked. “We can join the others at the izakaya after next practice. Maybe you'll feel more comfortable once you know them better.”

Tobio sighed. He wasn't so sure about that. Hinata seemed to sense his doubt and pulled Tobio behind one of the trees that was lining the road. He stood on tiptoes and put his hands on Tobio's face to pull him closer until their foreheads touched.

“It's okay. I'm not going to let anyone bully you, okay? Together, we're invincible.”

Hinata's words made Tobio's chest swell with affection. He liked Hinata. A lot. And he wanted to tell him, but words weren't his strength. Instead, he gathered all his courage and leaned in further until his lips met Hinata's. He'd intended to leave it at a swift peck on the lips, but Hinata wasn't having any of that. He moved one of his hands to the back of Tobio's neck to keep him in place and prolong the kiss. For a moment, time seemed to slow down. Kissing, Tobio realised, was way better than he could've ever imagined. It wasn't until he started to feel light-headed that he noticed that he'd been holding his breath. Reluctantly, Tobio pulled away to get some much-needed air in his lungs.

“You know you can breathe through your nose, right?” Hinata teased, taking a step back.

“Shut up, dumbass,” Tobio sighed, but there was no real bite to his words. He just took Hinata's hand, content with the knowledge that Hinata was _his dumbass_ , and nobody else's.

 

~~~

 

From: Dad

> Tobio, please stop ignoring our texts. We just want to know if you're doing okay

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You didn't think I forgot about Kageyama's parents, did you? :3c


	14. Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea how this happened, but when I started writing today, I had ~500 words already written, and now it's a full chapter lmao

Ittetsu was sitting at his desk, bent over a stack of end of term exams, when Keishin entered their room and immediately flopped down on the bed.

“You don't happen to know why Kageyama looked like he'd seen a ghost when he showed up for his shift today?” Keishin asked, his voice rough with exhaustion.

Ittetsu turned around in his chair, concern twisting in his guts.

“But he's been so happy recently,” Ittetsu muttered, thinking about how he'd seen Kageyama-kun and Hinata-kun snuggling on the couch last night. The effect those two had on each other was astoundingly positive.

“Don't take this the wrong way,” Keishin started, defensively holding up both of his hands, “but the last time I've seen anyone this pale was when you gave Tanaka and Ennoshita 'the talk'...”

Ittetsu chuckled and shook his head.

“You know as well as I do that our educational system does not keep in mind that some students might want to engage in gay sex. Someone has to tell them how to do it safely, and that might as well be me,” Ittetsu said, ignoring how his boyfriend rolled his eyes at him. “But I haven't talked to Kageyama-kun and Hinata-kun yet if that's what you are asking.”

“Huh.” Keishin frowned. “What's up with Kageyama then? I thought he and Hinata were doing well...”

Ittetsu shrugged. “I could talk to him.”

“That would be great,” Keishin sighed. “It's not affecting his work yet, but I'd prefer it if we didn't let it get that far.”

Immediately, Ittetsu got up from his chair and gave his boyfriend a peck on the cheek in passing. None of his tenants was actually related to him, but Ittetsu cared about them like family, and if one of them wasn't feeling well, he would move heaven and earth to cheer them up.

 

***

 

Tobio didn't want to look at his phone. It was a heavy weight in his pocket that he carried around out of habit, and every time it chimed with a text notification Tobio could've sworn that it got heavier. He didn't want to look at it, but he had to. Maybe it was a message from Hinata. Maybe Ukai-san needed him at the shop. Maybe Michimiya-san had sent him another funny cat meme.

Or maybe it was his parents.

Tobio didn't want to know what they had to say. They'd been loud and clear when they found out about his sexuality, hadn't they? They wanted him to be straight, to get married to a woman and have kids. Tobio wanted none of these things, so he'd left. He'd moved and found a new place to call home, a place where nobody judged him for falling in love with other men. He'd found a new love, a new family and a new future.

Why couldn't they just leave him be?

As if on cue, Tobio's phone started to ring and vibrate on the floor next to his futon. Tobio turned his head to look at the screen, and as expected, it flashed the call ID of his parents' landline. They hadn't tried calling him in months, and then a couple of days ago the calls started up again. He knew that he could just block them, but he couldn't bring himself to do that.

Just as the screen went dark again, there was a knock on his door.

“Come in,” he said lamely and sat up on his futon.

“Good evening, Kageyama-kun,” Takeda-sensei said, carefully entering the room.

“Good evening,” Tobio replied politely. “Is something wrong?”

“That's what I wanted to ask you,” Takeda-sensei replied, sliding the door shut behind himself. “Keishin said you didn't look too good at work today.”

Of course, Ukai-san had noticed. Sighing, Tobio pulled his knees against his chest and wrapped his arms around them.

“It's nothing serious,” Tobio muttered.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Takeda-san offered, sinking down on the floor next to Tobio's futon. At that moment, Tobio's phone chimed, informing him that he'd received a new message. Takeda-san's eyes reflexively focused on the phone screen in front of him as it lit up.

“Oh. Your parents?” he asked.

Tobio nodded.

“Did you fight again?”

Tobio snorted. Ridiculous. “No. I haven't talked to them since I moved here.”

Takeda-san sighed and took off his glasses to clean them with his shirt.

“Have they tried contacting you?”

“At first they sent texts every other week, but it's been getting more frequent,” Tobio admitted.

“And you've been ignoring them?”

“Of course.”

The look on Takeda-san's face as he put his glasses back one made Tobio feel like a high school student again. It was almost like that time when his homeroom teacher had scolded him for getting into fights with his former teammates.

“Kageyama-kun, I know that your parents haven't been particularly supportive of you,” Takeda-san said slowly, “and I can understand why you would want to cut ties with them. But you should at least give them a proper goodbye.”

“Why? It's not like they care about _me_. They only care about who they _think_ I am,” Tobio spat out, curling even further in on himself.

“Would they try to contact you if they didn't care?” Takeda-san asked, remaining calm as ever. “And even if they don't, you need the closure, too.”

“I don't need them anymore,” Tobio muttered petulantly. “I've been doing just fine without them these past couple months. I have you guys now. You're all way better at this family thing than my parents have ever been.”

A soft smile appeared on Takeda-san's face as he leaned over to ruffle Tobio's hair. Tobio leaned into the touch, taking comfort in it.

“I'm glad you see us as your family,” Takeda-san said. “And that's why I want you to be able to move forward without regrets. I'm not saying you should meet with your parents, although that might be the most effective way to get this over with. But at least send them a message. It doesn't have to be right now or even this week. Think carefully about what you want to tell them, and then do it. Trust me. You'll feel better afterwards.”

 

***

 

Having just finished his homework for the day, Shouyou decided that he at least wanted a quick hug from his boyfriend before he went to bed. He hadn't really talked to Kageyama all day, and for some reason that made Shouyou feel particularly antsy today.

Knocking on Kageyama's door, Shouyou received an angry grumble as an answer. Frowning, Shouyou pushed open the door.

“What is it now?” Kageyama complained. He was lying on his futon with his blanket drawn all the way up over his head despite the warm temperature in his room.

Shouyou hadn't seen Kageyama be this grumpy since they started dating.

“Are you alright?”

That made Kageyama poke his head out of his blanket.

“Oh, it's you,” he mumbled, disentangling himself from his bedding.

“Bad day?” Shouyou asked, immediately going to sit down on his boyfriend's futon.

Kageyama grumbled incomprehensibly and leaned forward until his head was resting on Shouyou's shoulder. Instinctively, Shouyou brushed his fingers through Kageyama's silky black hair.

“Do you think I should talk to my parents?” Kageyama mumbled.

Confused, Shoyuou stopped the movement of his hands. What had brought this on?

“I mean... Why not?” Shouyou asked.

Kageyama made a pathetic whining noise in the back of his throat and grabbed Shouyou's hand indicating that he should resume petting his hair. Sighing, Shouyou complied with the demand. He tried to remember if Kageyama had ever mentioned his parents in conversation, but the only time it had come up was a few months back, when Kageyama had opened up to Shouyou about his past.

“Is this about their reaction to you being gay?”

“They've been trying to contact me a lot,” Kageyama said. “And Takeda-san thinks I should give them a proper chance to say goodbye. He thinks it'll give me closure.”

Shouyou hummed, letting his other hand draw soothing circles on Kageyama's back. He was well aware that he was lucky that his own parents had always been incredibly supportive of all his life choices. He couldn't imagine not wanting to talk to them – hell, he barely managed to live on his own. If it hadn't been for Kageyama and his other housemates, Shouyou would've probably lived in a constant state of homesickness.

But Kageyama's situation was different. His parents weren't as accepting, and he'd made the choice to leave them deliberately, unlike Shouyou who'd only stayed behind in Sendai because it would've been impossible to find a different vocational school at such a short notice. Takeda-san was probably right, though.

“If you don't want to go to them alone, I'll accompany you,” Shouyou offered. He could feel muscles tense under his fingertips before Kageyama lifted his head to look at Shouyou's face.

“Really?”

“Of course, silly.” Shouyou smiled. “We're invincible together, remember?”

And suddenly, Kageyama pulled Shouyou against his chest, hugging him tight and burying his face in Shouyou's hair.

“I like you so much,” he muttered, voice muffled.

“I like you, too,” Shouyou sighed, pressing a kiss against Kageyama's collarbone.

 

~~~

 

The next morning, Shouyou woke up with his back pressed against Kageyama's chest. He felt warm and sweaty, but Kageyama's arms were curled around him so tightly that he had no chance of escaping the embrace unless his boyfriend woke up. Any other time, Shouyou wouldn't have cared and just pinched and prodded at Kageyama until he let him go, but today, Shouyou resigned himself to his sticky fate. Kageyama had been through quite the roller coaster of emotions last night, and he deserved his rest.

Sighing, Shouyou thought back on yesterday's conversation. They were going to go to Kageyama's hometown the next chance they got, and they would tell his parents that they would either have to accept that Kageyama was gay and in a relationship with Shouyou or leave him be and cut all ties with him.

“ _I wouldn't even care if they erased me from the family registry,”_ Kageyama had said. Shouyou wasn't sure if they could even do that, but he hoped that they wouldn't have to go that far. Maybe the Kageyamas would see reason and accept their son. Shouyou had always been optimistic to a fault, and he was going to hold on to the hope of a happy ending for as long as he could. For his own sake, but mostly for the sake of the boy that was currently clinging to him.

 

***

 

“Ukai-san left me the keys to his car. So if you need us to come and get you, you can just call us,” Michimiya-san said, watching as Hinata and Tobio put on their shoes in the entryway.

Tobio hoped that a rescue mission wouldn't be necessary, but he was about to show up on his parents' doorstep with his boyfriend in tow. Who knew how they'd react to that?

“Thanks,” Tobio said, shouldering his messenger bag.

“We'll be off then!” Hinata announced, opening the front door.

“Take care!” Michimiya-san gave a small wave that Tobio acknowledged with a nod, and then they left for the train station.

Ukai-san had given Tobio the entire weekend off. Tobio doubted that he'd actually need it, but there was the off chance that his parents wouldn't throw him out of their house once he introduced Hinata to them.

There was only one thing that was certain, and that was that by the end of today, Tobio would still be holding Hinata's hand and Takeda-san's house would remain his home.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter might take a while because I'll be pretty busy next week. But who even knows how quickly I can crank out chapters at this point. I certainly don't lol


	15. Parents

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hooo boy, this chapter was hard to write. I hope you guys enjoy it, though!

In Tobio's hometown, absolutely nothing had changed. The station attendant's voice over the speaker was monotonous as he announced incoming and departing trains. A stray orange tabby was lazing in a sunny spot on the steps in front of the community centre. Old ladies were chatting on the bench in front of the market, resting before they carried their purchases home. It was all incredibly familiar – idyllic and wholesome, a picturesque small town in rural Japan – and yet, Tobio felt strangely out of place.

It was like walking backwards in time, retreading the path he'd taken after graduation. But while his hometown was stuck in the past, Tobio had changed. Months ago, when Ukai-san had insinuated that Tobio had run away, Tobio had been offended. Now, however, he realised that Ukai-san had hit the nail on the head. Tobio hadn't wanted to talk to his parents. He hadn't wanted to explain himself. He still didn't, but he was going to do it anyway. As unpleasant as it was going to be, Tobio had learnt how healing words could be. And the person who'd taught him was right there next to him.

“Invincible,” Hinata whispered as Tobio's finger hesitated over his parents' doorbell. Tobio took a deep breath before pressing the square button next to the nameplate. 

They didn't have to wait long for someone to open the door.

Tobio's mother looked tired. Her shoulders were slumped, and her blue eyes seemed weary until she realised who was standing in front of her door.

“T-tobio!” Her jaw went slack, and before Tobio could fully grasp what was happening, he was wrapped up in a desperate embrace. He couldn't even remember the last time his mum had tried to hug him. The only thing that felt remotely real at that moment was Hinata's hand that was slipping from his grip. But Tobio refused to let go.

“I'm so glad you're okay,” Tobio's mother whispered as she pulled back. And only then did she even register that there was another guest on her doorstep. Her eyes wandered from Hinata's bird's nest of red hair down to where his fingers were linked with Tobio, then they snapped up to Tobio's face.

“Er, hi,” Tobio said, tightening his grip on Hinata's hand. Hinata squeezed back reassuringly.

_ Invincible. _

“This is Hinata Shouyou, one of my housemates and my...” Tobio had to force his tongue to cooperate. “He's my b-boyfriend.”

“It's nice to meet you, Kageyama-san,” Hinata greeted Tobio's mother with a bright grin and an enthusiastic bow. 

“N-nice to... meet you...” Her gaze flitted between Hinata and Tobio's faces, the crease between her brows deepening.

“Who is it, honey?” Tobio heard his father's voice from somewhere in the house.

“It's... it's Tobio. He brought a...” The way Tobio's mother trailed off stung, but Tobio didn't have time to worry about it, not with his father appearing in the door frame with anger radiating off of him.

“You dare show your face after not even answering our texts for weeks?!” he growled. “Your mother has been worried sick!”

“You should've thought about that before treating me like I was a fucking failure,” Tobio spat out. “Don't blame me for wanting to get away from people who wouldn't even look me in the eye after they found out that I'm gay!”

“People? We're your _parents_!”

“I don't like to interrupt but, er...” Hinata suddenly piped up and pointed at the house across the street where an elderly woman was peaking through her curtains. “The neighbours are staring.”

“And who are you?” Tobio's father snapped, making Hinata flinch and take a step back so he could at least partially hide behind Tobio's back. 

“I'm Hinata Shouyou...” he mumbled.

“He's my boyfriend,” Tobio said, letting go of Hinata's hand so he could wrap his arm around his waist instead. Hinata laughed nervously in response to the gesture. Tobio hated that he had to put Hinata through this, but without Hinata, this conversation wouldn't even be happening.

“Boyfriend,” Tobio's father repeated lamely.

“How about we take this inside?” Tobio's mother suggested, putting a calming hand on her husband's arm.

 

***

 

Well, now Shouyou knew where his boyfriend had got his temper from. Kageyama Masaru might've been about ten centimetres shorter than his son, but he had the same intimidating aura and an even deeper voice that rattled Shouyou's bones when he raised it. Meanwhile, Kageyama Shiori seemed soft and fragile in comparison. If it hadn't been for her striking blue eyes, there would've barely been any resemblance to her son.

Kneeling around the table in their living room, the atmosphere between the four of them felt heavy, as if they were in the eye of a storm. For the moment, it was quiet, but Shouyou's gut was telling him that the slightest misstep would lead them back to a shouting match. 

Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see how stiffly Kageyama was sitting. His back was unnaturally straight, and the scowl on his face was unprecedented. Shouyou had managed to anger Kageyama more than once when they'd just started living under the same roof, but never had it been _that_ bad. Or maybe he just hadn't known Kageyama well enough yet to tell. 

“So Tobio... you found work in Sendai?” Kageyama's mother asked, breaking the silence. 

“I work at Ukai-san's corner shop,” Kageyama replied curtly.

“And Ukai-san is...”

“One of our housemates,” Kageyama clarified. Shiori-san sneaked a glance in Shouyou's direction who tried to put on his friendliest smile. People usually responded well whenever he smiled, so hopefully, Kageyama's parents wouldn't be an exception. 

“How many people live in that house anyway?” Masaru-san asked.

“We're seven people,” Shouyou replied. “Takeda-san inherited a large house, so now he's renting out the other rooms. Most of us are students.”

“And you? Are you also a student?” Masaru-san wanted to know.

“I go to a vocational school for car mechanics,” Shouyou replied, suddenly very uncomfortable under the intense gaze of Kageyama's father. 

Masaru-san huffed and got up from the floor. “I'm going to make tea.”

Shouyou barely managed to suppress a sigh of relief. This was going to be a long day.

 

***

 

“Your father has been under a lot of stress lately, Tobio,” Tobio's mother said quietly, as soon as his father had left the room. “Please don't take what he says to heart.”

“It's already too late for that,” Tobio growled. 

“Tobio...” There was a pleading tone in his mother's voice, but Tobio wasn't done yet. All the frustration and anger he'd managed to forget in Sendai was boiling inside of him again. Here they were, completely ignoring the elephant in the room that was his relationship with Hinata. 

“You made it abundantly clear that you didn't like the fact that I'm gay, so I left.”

“We just want what's best for you.”

Tobio rolled his eyes and grabbed his boyfriend's hand, lifting it up between them. “ _This_ is what's best for me. I _like_ guys. I like Hinata. I _do not_ want to be in a relationship with a woman. Not in a million years.”

Silence fell between them again. Tobio could see how uncomfortable his mother was by how much she fidgeted with her wedding ring. This was why he had left home. His parents clearly didn't get him. They weren't even trying to understand his point of view. They hadn't even bothered asking for it.

Tobio's father soon returned with tea and biscuits. He put the cups down so violently that they almost spilt.

“Why did you ignore us?” he asked as he sat back down again. “A simple text message would've been enough.”

“You didn't care about how I was doing when I lived here, so why do you care now?” Tobio shot back.

“Of course we cared about you!” his father roared. “We gave you everything you could've ever wanted! You had training gear, and we bought you tickets for volleyball games...”

“That's not what I mean!” Tobio interrupted. “If you'd actually cared, you wouldn't have berated me for trying to follow my dreams. You wouldn't have tried to tell me that my sexuality was just a phase!” His voice cracked. He was so close to crying, and he probably would have if it hadn't been for Hinata's presence. His boyfriend had barely said anything since they arrived, but his touch was enough to keep Tobio grounded.

“But you never showed any interest in boys before,” his father tried to argue.

“Oh, but I showed interest in girls?” Tobio laughed but it left a bitter taste in his mouth. “Maybe you didn't notice because I didn't want you to. Or maybe you just never paid attention.”

“Tobio, we just wanted you to have a fulfilling life,” Tobio's mother said. “We just wanted you to have a good job and a family one day.”

“Okay, that's it.” Hinata's voice wasn't particularly loud, but it cut through the atmosphere in the room like a knife. “Just because _you_ think that you need kids of your own for a fulfilling life, doesn't mean your son wants that. He is not you. Tobio is his own person. I care about him a lot, and I don't know how long this relationship will last, but at the moment, I can't imagine a future without him.”

Hinata's words made Tobio's chest feel too tight with all the emotions that were welling up inside of him. He was so grateful that Hinata was here with him, that Hinata cared so much, and that Hinata wasn't too shy to stand up to Tobio's parents.

“And what do your parents have to say about this, Hinata-kun?” Tobio's father wanted to know.

“They're happy for me,” Hinata shot back immediately, taking Tobio by surprise.

“You... you told your parents?”

“Why wouldn't I?” Hinata rolled his eyes at Tobio's question. “When I was four, I told my mum that I wanted to marry one of the boys from the daycare. She's not particularly fazed by any of this stuff anymore.”

That somehow seemed to take the wind out of Tobio's parents' sails.

“The world is such a harsh place for people like you,” his mother said quietly. “I just thought... Maybe it would be easier... I'm so sorry, Tobio.”

“Your behaviour didn't make things any easier for me,” Tobio huffed, but most of his anger evaporated at the apologetic look on his mother's face. 

“It wasn't our intention to hurt you,” she said and turned to her husband. “Masaru?”

Tobio's father took a shaky breath and shook his head. “Just... please don't ignore us anymore. You're my only son, and I... I just want you to be safe and happy. And I thought... It doesn't matter, does it? I was wrong. We made you unhappy. I apologise.”

Tobio nodded. He didn't know how else to react. He couldn't tell his father that he forgave him because that would have been a lie. But Tobio's anger had subsided and been replaced by relief.

It was just like Takeda-san had said. Tobio had needed to air his grievances to get closure. The relationship with his parents couldn't be mended with a single conversation, but after this, they could move on. 

 

***

 

They stayed for dinner at Shiori-san's insistence. It was an awkward affair that mostly went by in silence. Shiori-san and Shouyou made some fruitless attempts at small talk that were immediately shut down by Masaru-san and Kageyama's monosyllabic answers. When Shiori-san offered that they could also stay the night, Shouyou declined, making up some excuse about having an appointment the next day. Kageyama nodded along with Shouyou's lie and heaved a sigh of relief once the front door fell shut behind them.

As he and Kageyama sat on the last train back to Sendai, Shouyou leaned against his boyfriend's side.

“How are you feeling?” he asked carefully. 

“Exhausted,” Kageyama muttered, putting an arm around Shouyou's shoulders.

“And how do you feel about your parents?” Shouyou pressed on. Kageyama let his head fall back against the backrest of his seat and closed his eyes.

“I don't know.”

“Still angry?”

Kageyama shook his head and pulled a grimace. “It's... complicated.”

Shouyou hummed in understanding. Kageyama's parents obviously cared about their son's well-being, but they also failed to understand him in the slightest. It was a frustrating situation to be in.

“Will you forgive them?”

“Maybe. Not yet.”

“Well, you have me. And the others. And my family would love to meet you,” Shouyou tried to cheer his boyfriend up. Kageyama opened his eyes and leaned down to kiss Shouyou's forehead.

“I'm glad,” he said, a rare genuine smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up: the last chapter


	16. Future

“Let's get going, guys!” Michimiya complained impatiently. “You are the ones who still have to warm up before the match.”

“They aren't going to start without the four of us,” Keishin replied as he put on his shoes. He knew his teammates well enough not to worry too much about being late. None of them was known for punctuality. 

As they left the house, everyone paired off with their partner. Ittetsu and Keishin were bringing up the rear of the group, watching their friends with fond smiles. 

They had all grown so much since they started living in Ittetsu's house. Shimizu and Michimiya were about to graduate and in the middle of job hunting. Ennoshita had started helping out at the shop whenever he wasn't busy with classes. Now that their neighbourhood was slowly gaining in popularity, there was an increase in customers. Tanaka had taken it upon himself to train all the new staff, so Keishin could focus on the business side of things. But the biggest change could be seen in Kageyama and Hinata. Kageyama was still pretty deaf to most social cues, but he'd learnt to compensate by reigning in his temper, making it a lot easier to communicate with him. Maybe it had helped that he finally joined the neighbourhood team a year ago. Having to socialise with people he didn't know that well on a regular basis certainly hadn't been to Kageyama's detriment. The same went for his relationship with Hinata. Hinata approached relationships with the same determination he usually reserved for volleyball, and Kageyama appeared to reciprocate the devotion.

They still managed to bicker constantly, though.

“They grow up so fast, don't they?” Ittetsu said wistfully.

“You sound like a dad,” Keishin teased.

“They might as well be our kids,” Ittetsu shot back.

“They're a little old to be our kids.” Keishin grinned. “Younger siblings, maybe?”

Ittetsu shrugged. “Sounds good to me.”

“We love you, too, guys,” Michimiya said, turning around to wink at Keishin and Ittetsu.

“Seconded!” Hinata exclaimed.

“Thirded,” Tanaka agreed.

 

***

 

Standing on the court with Tobio was still as exhilarating as it had been the first time. With him, Shouyou felt like anything was possible. He could just run and jump wherever he wanted, and the ball would be there for him to spike. Ukai-san had dubbed them the Freak Combo and had been all too happy to step down from his position of starting setter to focus on the coaching side of things. 

“Keep an eye on their number four,” Ukai-san said during the break between the first two sets. “He's almost as fast as you are, Hinata.”

Shouyou nodded and gulped down some more water.

“And Kageyama, please remember to tell me if your shoulder is acting up. I'll switch with you immediately.”

“Of course,” Tobio said, putting down his bottle. “But I can keep going for one more set at least.”

The team huddled one last time before their six starting members went back onto the court.

“Give us a nice serve, Shimada!” Ukai-san yelled from the sidelines. Shouyou took up his position, eyes focusing on the other team's number four. As soon as the opposing libero received the ball, Number Four ran up for a quick attack. Shouyou jumped at the perfect moment for a soft block, the ball ricochetting off his fingertips.

“Takinoue!”

The other middle blocker dove for the ball, sending it to Tobio in a clean arc, but Shouyou was already on the move. He ran halfway across the court to avoid the opposing blockers and jumped. Tobio's toss reached him at the height of his jumps, making it possible for Shouyou to simply slam it down on the other side of the net.

“Yes!” Shouyou threw his hands in the air and turned to his boyfriend for a high five. Instead, he received a sudden but brief kiss that made their teammates snicker.

“Keep it in your pants, guys!” Ennoshita-san yelled from the stands.

“As if you and Tanaka-san are any better!” Tobio yelled back.

 

***

 

To: Mum

> We won the match.

 

From: Mum

> Congratulations! Did you buy the tickets for your trip to Osaka yet?

 

To: Mum

> Yes

 

From: Mum

> Remember to come by beforehand so I can give you some oranges to share with Hinata-kun's family

 

To: Mum

> Will do

 

Tobio put his phone away and returned his focus to the party around him. It had been a while since they'd last played the Tohokudai university team in a practice match and won, thus the celebration involved a lot more alcohol than usual. An hour in, and Takeda-san and Ukai-san were already doing karaoke of cheesy duets. Usually, that only happened shortly before the party broke up so everyone could catch the last train home.

“Texting your mum?” Michimiya-san asked suddenly, making Tobio flinch and almost spill his beer in surprise. He hadn't even noticed that she'd sat down next to him.

“Yeah,” he replied, took a sip of beer and grimaced. He didn't mind the bitterness, but the alcoholic taste was unpleasant. He'd only started drinking recently, though, after he'd turned twenty, so maybe he'd get used to it eventually. Otherwise, he'd have to find a way to make his teammates stop forcing beer on him.

“You know, when I had my last shift at the manga café last week, I remembered how I first met you,” Michimiya-san said, nudging Tobio with her elbow. “You've come a long way since then.”

Tobio shrugged. “I was barely out of high school, what did you expect?”

Recently, Ukai-san had hired a high school student as a part-timer, and Tobio had suddenly been faced with the realisation that being eighteen didn't equal maturity, and neither did being twenty. Looking at Ukai-san and Takeda-san and the silly songs they were singing, even thirty-year-old “adults” had their childish moments.

“Well, I'm glad I found you and brought you back with me,” Michimiya-san said, affectionately putting an arm around Tobio's shoulder.

“You make it sounds like I was a stray cat or something,” Tobio grumbled. Michimiya-san just laughed and ruffled his hair. 

“You were one angry little kitten,” she said, giggling breathlessly. Maybe she had had one too many drinks as well. Sighing, Tobio gently removed her arm from around his shoulders and got up. 

“I need to talk to Shouyou for a second,” he excused himself, aware that he was fooling nobody. Michimiya-san knew him well enough not to take offence, though. 

Shouyou was sitting with Ennoshita-san and Shimizu-san, laughing at Takeda-san and Ukai-san's pathetic attempt at harmonising. 

“What's up?” Shouyou asked as Tobio sat down next to him.

“Nothing much. Michimiya-san is a little drunk,” Tobio replied. Shimizu-san immediately sat up a little straighter at that.

“Should I check on her?” 

“I think she'll be fine as long as you cut her off after her next drink.”

“Okay then.”

Tobio sighed and cuddled up to his boyfriend. It was evenings like this that reminded him that he'd finally found his way home.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it :)  
> My next big project is a Royal/Commoner AU for EnnoTana week, so if you enjoyed the small EnnoTana moments in this fic, you can look forward to that (or check out my modern fantasy AU series Paraphernalia, which features UkaTake, KiyoYui and EnnoTana). Other than that, I'm still open to taking drabble requests on Tumblr, so just send me an ask with a prompt and a ship/friendship/team, and I'll see what I can do. Thank you all for the comments, kudos etc!
> 
> EDIT: [here's a drabble that's even further in the future lol](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14966567)

**Author's Note:**

> If you want updates on my writing, or are into random reblogs of politics, anime and funny stuff, you can follow me on [Tumblr](http://gilrael.tumblr.com).


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